Science & Technologyz

left brain world

Temporary hearing deprivation can lead to 'lazy ear'

Scientists have gained new insight into why a relatively short-term hearing deprivation during childhood may lead to persistent hearing deficits, long after hearing is restored to normal. The research reveals that, much like the visual cortex, development of the auditory cortex is quite vulnerable if it does not receive appropriate stimulation at just the right time.

Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 11 Mar 2010 | 12:00 pm

Brain mechanism may explain alcohol cravings that drive relapse

New research provides exciting insight into the molecular mechanisms associated with addiction and relapse. The study uncovers a crucial mechanism that facilitates motivation for alcohol after extended abstinence and opens new avenues for potential therapeutic intervention.

Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 11 Mar 2010 | 12:00 pm

Students' perceptions of Earth's age influence acceptance of human evolution

High school and college students who understand the geological age of the Earth (4.5 billion years) are much more likely to understand and accept human evolution, according to a new study. A 2009 Gallup poll reported that 16 percent of biology teachers believe God created humans in their present form at some time during the last 10,000 years.

Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 11 Mar 2010 | 12:00 pm

Mysterious cosmic 'dark flow' tracked deeper into universe

Distant galaxy clusters mysteriously stream at a million miles per hour along a path roughly centered on the southern constellations Centaurus and Hydra. A new study tracks this collective motion -- dubbed the "dark flow" -- to twice the distance originally reported.

Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 11 Mar 2010 | 12:00 pm

Obesity linked to poor colon cancer prognosis

Obese patients with colon cancer are at greater risk for death or recurrent disease compared to those who are within a normal weight range, according to a new study.

Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 11 Mar 2010 | 12:00 pm

Conquering the chaos in modern, multiprocessor computers

A group of computer scientists have found a way to tame multiprocessor computers, which behave in wildly unpredictable ways even as the systems become widespread in the industry.

Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 11 Mar 2010 | 12:00 pm

Study finds elevated levels of cobalt and chromium in offspring of patients with metal-on-metal hip implants

Hip replacement patients with metal-on-metal implants (both the socket and hip ball are metal) pass metal ions to their infants during pregnancy, according to a new study.

Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 11 Mar 2010 | 9:00 am

Experimental drug that mimics thryoid hormone safely lowers 'bad' cholesterol

People whose "bad" cholesterol and risk of future heart disease stay too high despite cholesterol-lowering statin therapy can safely lower it by adding a drug that mimics the action of thyroid hormone.

Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 11 Mar 2010 | 9:00 am

Development of more muscular trout could boost commercial aquaculture

A 10-year effort by a scientist to develop transgenic rainbow trout with enhanced muscle growth has yielded fish with what have been described as six-pack abs and muscular shoulders that could provide a boost to the commercial aquaculture industry.

Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 11 Mar 2010 | 9:00 am

Boost for technology: Huge step toward mass production of coveted form of carbon

Scientists have leaped over a major hurdle in efforts to begin commercial production of a form of carbon that could rival silicon in its potential for revolutionizing electronics devices ranging from supercomputers to cell phones. Called graphene, the material consists of a layer of graphite 50,000 times thinner than a human hair with unique electronic properties.

Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 11 Mar 2010 | 9:00 am

Battle over climate science spreads to US schoolrooms

In three states, alternatives to the scientific consensus on global warming must be taught – and there seem to be links to efforts to teach creationism

Source: New Scientist - Current Issue Articles | 11 Mar 2010 | 7:33 am

MRC scientists announce advance in understanding body's natural defenses

Medical Research Council scientists at the University of Leicester have made a new advance in understanding how the body fights certain types of cancer and other disease such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.

Source: EurekAlert! - Breaking News | 10 Mar 2010 | 10:00 pm

Elsevier launches Journal of Family Business Strategy

Elsevier, the world-leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, today announced the launch of a new quarterly journal, Journal of Family Business Strategy. The journal aims to be a primary publication outlet for academics and scholars in the field of family business strategic issues and the first issue is now available on ScienceDirect.

Source: EurekAlert! - Breaking News | 10 Mar 2010 | 10:00 pm

Can we detect quantum behavior in viruses?

A German-Spanish research group, split between the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics in Garching and the Institute of Photonic Sciences, is using the principles of an iconic quantum mechanics thought experiment -- Schrödinger's superpositioned cat -- to test for quantum properties in objects composed of as many as one billion atoms, possibly including the flu virus.

Source: EurekAlert! - Breaking News | 10 Mar 2010 | 10:00 pm

Study reinforces role of AED Vimpat (lacosamide) (C-V) as add-on treatment for POS

Vimpat demonstrated significantly greater seizure reduction versus placebo whenadded to other antiepileptic drugs (AEDs).The absence of significant pharmacokinetic drug interactions, as demonstrated in thisand other Vimpat studies, may allow for ease of Vimpat use as add-on therapy.

Source: EurekAlert! - Breaking News | 10 Mar 2010 | 10:00 pm

Behavior of single protein observed in unprecedented detail by Stanford chemists

Scrutinizing a single molecule for more than a few milliseconds used to require effectively "stapling" it down, inhibiting its normal behavior. Now, using a technique recently developed in their lab, Stanford chemists have for the first time confined a protein (one involved in photosynthesis), observed its behavior for more than a second and learned things about it that could influence solar energy technology and biofuels.

Source: EurekAlert! - Breaking News | 10 Mar 2010 | 10:00 pm

Moderate use of video games can be a very useful educational tool for teaching children

Contrary to what many parents think, video games are not a determining factor in obtaining a good academic result, according to a research carried out at the Department of Didactics of Musical, Plastic and Corporal Expression at the UGR. Its author analyzed a sample of 266 participants aged between 11 and 16, together with their corresponding parents.

Source: EurekAlert! - Breaking News | 10 Mar 2010 | 10:00 pm

Communication often fumbled during patient hand-offs in hospital

As shifts change in a hospital, outgoing physicians must "hand off" important information to their replacements in a brief meeting. But a new study of this hand-off process finds that the most important information is not fully conveyed in a majority of cases, even as physicians rate their communication as successful.

Source: EurekAlert! - Breaking News | 10 Mar 2010 | 10:00 pm

More maize ethanol may boost greenhouse gas emissions

Mandated increases in the production of maize-derived ethanol will lead to land-use changes that boost carbon dioxide emissions enough to make the fuel a worse environmental option than burning gasoline, according to an analysis published in the March issue of BioScience. The new analysis refines the conclusion of a controversial estimate that was published by Timothy Searchinger and colleagues in 2008.

Source: EurekAlert! - Breaking News | 10 Mar 2010 | 10:00 pm

Study: Kidney disease a big risk for younger, low-income minorities

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) afflicts a large number of younger minority adults receiving medical care in settings that serve the uninsured and under-insured (settings collectively known as the health care safety net). Poor, minority adults with moderate to severe CKD are also two to four times more likely to progress to kidney failure than non-Hispanic whites. These are the findings from a study published online in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

Source: EurekAlert! - Breaking News | 10 Mar 2010 | 10:00 pm

Knee replacement in elderly patients shown to improve balance

Total knee replacement (TKR) successfully relieves pain and improves function in patients with advanced knee arthritis, according to a study presented today at the 2010 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS).

Source: EurekAlert! - Breaking News | 10 Mar 2010 | 10:00 pm

Learn to love your fat

As we understand obesity better, we are learning that fat is our friend as well as our foe

Source: New Scientist - Current Issue Articles | 10 Mar 2010 | 11:30 am

Accidental origins: Where species come from

Organisms gradually grow apart until they become different species – right? If new research is correct, it's more often down to tricks of fate

Source: New Scientist - Current Issue Articles | 10 Mar 2010 | 11:00 am

Roger Penrose: Non-stop cosmos, non-stop career

The mathematician and self-proclaimed incurable optimist talks about his cameo in an Oscar-nominated movie and why he has no time for string theory

Source: New Scientist - Current Issue Articles | 10 Mar 2010 | 11:00 am

Turning tables on prostate cancer's drug resistance

Prostate cancer drugs trigger the release of a molecule that makes tumours grow – the discovery could lead to a way to keep the cancer at bay

Source: New Scientist - Current Issue Articles | 10 Mar 2010 | 11:00 am

Obesity: Food kills, flab protects

Disease and obesity go hand in hand, but an increase in body fat may actually be part of our body's attempts to protect itself from the effects of unhealthy eating

Source: New Scientist - Current Issue Articles | 10 Mar 2010 | 11:00 am

The luck of the Tasmanian devils is in their genes

The meat-eating marsupials are threatened by a deadly transmissible cancer – but the discovery of what makes some animals resistant could save them

Source: New Scientist - Current Issue Articles | 10 Mar 2010 | 9:00 am

Women with good genes may have more sexual partners

Female students with a genetically diverse immune system said they had sex with more people than their peers did

Source: New Scientist - Current Issue Articles | 10 Mar 2010 | 1:00 am

Fifty years of the 'light fantastic:' Laser advances spark scientific progress

(American Chemical Society) Fifty years after the first laser sparked a technological revolution, the "light fantastic" continues to impact people's daily lives -- by playing DVDs, speeding Internet connections, and performing intricate surgery. As the golden anniversary of the announcement of the first laser approaches on July 7th, Chemical & Engineering News, ACS' weekly newsmagazine, takes a special look at the past, present, and exciting future of this amazing invention.

Source: EurekAlert! - Chemistry, Physics and Materials Sciences | 9 Mar 2010 | 10:00 pm

A huge step toward mass production of coveted form of carbon

(American Chemical Society) Scientists have leaped over a major hurdle in efforts to begin commercial production of a form of carbon that could rival silicon in its potential for revolutionizing electronics devices ranging from supercomputers to cell phones. Called graphene, the material consists of a layer of graphite 50,000 times thinner than a human hair with unique electronic properties. Their study appears in ACS' Nano Letters, a monthly journal.

Source: EurekAlert! - Chemistry, Physics and Materials Sciences | 9 Mar 2010 | 10:00 pm

NoMix toilets get thumbs-up in 7 European countries

(American Chemical Society) People in seven European countries have positive attitudes toward a new eco-friendly toilet that could substantially reduce pollution problems and conserve water and nutrients, scientists in Switzerland are reporting. Their article, which calls on authorities to give wider support for the innovative toilet technology, is in ACS' Environmental Science & Technology, a semi-monthly journal.

Source: EurekAlert! - Chemistry, Physics and Materials Sciences | 9 Mar 2010 | 10:00 pm

Nitric oxide-releasing wrap for donor organs and cloth for therapeutic socks

(American Chemical Society) Scientists in Texas are reporting development of a first-of-its-kind cloth that releases nitric oxide gas -- an advance toward making therapeutic socks for people with diabetes and a wrap to help preserve organs harvested for transplantation. The study is in ACS' Chemistry of Materials, a bi-weekly journal.

Source: EurekAlert! - Chemistry, Physics and Materials Sciences | 9 Mar 2010 | 10:00 pm

Mysterious cosmic 'dark flow' tracked deeper into universe

(NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center) Distant galaxy clusters mysteriously stream at a million miles per hour along a path roughly centered on the southern constellations Centaurus and Hydra. A new study led by Alexander Kashlinsky at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., tracks this collective motion -- dubbed the "dark flow" -- to twice the distance originally reported.

Source: EurekAlert! - Chemistry, Physics and Materials Sciences | 9 Mar 2010 | 10:00 pm

Breast cancer drug fulvestrant appears more effective in the presence of CK8 and CK18

(Indiana University) Women's responsiveness to the second-line breast cancer drug fulvestrant may depend on whether the cancer cells are expressing two key proteins, Indiana University Bloomington scientists report in this month's Cancer Biology & Therapy.

Source: EurekAlert! - Chemistry, Physics and Materials Sciences | 9 Mar 2010 | 10:00 pm

Tumors may respond to extreme and moderate heat

(American Association for Cancer Research) Aided by ultrasound guidance, treating tumors with extreme heat or moderate heat may provide a possible therapeutic option, according to early research presented at the second AACR Dead Sea International Conference on Advances in Cancer Research.

Source: EurekAlert! - Chemistry, Physics and Materials Sciences | 9 Mar 2010 | 10:00 pm

Galaxy study validates general relativity on cosmic scale, existence of dark matter

(University of California - Berkeley) While general relativity describes well the behavior of the solar system, Einstein's theory of gravity and spacetime has not been tested on cosmological scales. Now, a team that includes UC Berkeley physicist Uros Seljak has analyzed data on 70,000 galaxies to show that the theory is so far the best description of the universe, at least out to 3.5 billion light years from Earth. Specifically, theories without dark matter do not fit the observations.

Source: EurekAlert! - Chemistry, Physics and Materials Sciences | 9 Mar 2010 | 10:00 pm

Quantum walk

(University of Innsbruck) A team of physicists headed by Christian Roos and Rainer Blatt from the Institute of Quantum Optics and Quantum Information of the Austrian Academy of Sciences realize a quantum walk in a quantum system with up to 23 steps. It is the first time that this quantum process using trapped ions is demonstrated in detail.

Source: EurekAlert! - Chemistry, Physics and Materials Sciences | 9 Mar 2010 | 10:00 pm

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