|  Potential role of 'love hormone' oxytocin in brain function revealed  | Researchers have deciphered how oxytocin, acting as a neurohormone in the brain, not only reduces background noise, but more importantly, increases the strength of desired signals. These findings may be relevant to autism, which affects one in 88 children in the United States. | Read More » Hidden magnetic waves discovered in high-temperature superconductors  | Advanced x-ray technique reveals surprising quantum excitations that persist through materials with or without superconductivity. | Read More » Scientists discover potential new way to treat anxiety  | Chemically modified inhibitors of the COX-2 enzyme relieve anxiety behaviors in mice by activating natural "endocannabinoids" without gastrointestinal side effects, scientists report. Endocannabinoids are natural signaling molecules that activate cannabinoid receptors in the brain, the same receptors turned on by the active ingredient in marijuana. | Read More » Global investigation reveals true scale of ocean warming  | Warming oceans are causing marine species to change breeding times and shift homes with expected substantial consequences for the broader marine landscape, according to a new global study. | Read More » Nasa's Hubble finds 'smoking gun' after gamma-ray burst  | Probing the location of a recent short-duration gamma-ray burst in near-infrared light, astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope found the fading fireball produced in the aftermath of the blast. The afterglow reveals for the first time a new kind of stellar blast called a kilonova. | Read More » Locating the brain's GPS: Human neurons link to navigation in open environments  | Using direct human brain recordings, scientists have identified a new type of cell in the brain that helps people to keep track of their relative location while navigating an unfamiliar environment. | Read More » Video games boost visual attention but reduce impulse control  | A person playing a first-person shooter video game like Halo or Unreal Tournament must make decisions quickly. That fast-paced decision-making, it turns out, boosts the player's visual skills but comes at a cost, according to new research: reducing the person's ability to inhibit impulsive behavior. This reduction in what is called "proactive executive control" appears to be yet another way that violent video games can increase aggressive behavior. | Read More » Scientists decipher structure of NatA, an enzyme complex that modifies most human proteins  | Scientists have determined the structure of NatA, an enzyme complex that modifies one end of most human proteins and is made at elevated levels in numerous forms of cancer. Their findings, they believe, will allow them to create an inhibitor -- a potential drug -- that could knock out NatA in order to curb the growth of cancer cells. | Read More » A crystal of a different color: One chemical forms two colors of crystals, sheds insight on agostic bonds important in industrial catalysis  | Chemists have unexpectedly made two differently colored crystals -- one orange, one blue -- from one chemical in the same flask while studying a special kind of molecular connection called an agostic bond. The discovery provides industrial chemical reactions such as those that occur while making plastics and fuels. | Read More » Not only bone density, but also quality of bone predicts fracture risk  | In a new study, bone histomorphometry and infrared spectroscopy revealed abnormal bone properties in children with vertebral fractures and in children after solid organ transplantation. Bone compositional changes in children with vertebral fractures and after different types of organ transplantation have not been reported previously. | Read More » Looking to the past to predict the future of climate change  | Climate changes how species interact with one another -- and not just today. Scientists are studying trends from fossil records to understand how climate change impacted the world in the ancient past and to identify ways to predict how things may change in the future, according to a new study. | Read More » 'Insect soup' holds DNA key for monitoring biodiversity  | Scientists have shown that sequencing the DNA of crushed up creepy crawlies can accelerate the monitoring and cataloguing of biodiversity around the world. New research shows that a process known as 'metabarcoding' is much faster than and just as reliable as standard biodiversity datasets assembled with traditional labor-intensive methods. The breakthrough means that changing environments and endangered species can be monitored more easily than ever before. It could help researchers find endangered tree kangaroos in Papua New Guinea, discover which moths will be wiped out by climate change, and restore nature to heathlands in the UK, rubber plantations in China, and oil-palm plantations in Sumatra. | Read More » Chronic harvesting threatens tropical tree  | Chronic harvesting of a tropical tree that many local communities in Western Africa depend on can alter the tree's reproduction and drastically curtail fruit and seed yields over the tree's lifetime, according to a new study. | Read More » Practice makes the brain's motor cortex more efficient  | Not only does practice make perfect, it also makes for more efficient generation of neuronal activity in the brain's primary motor cortex, say researchers. New findings have shown that practice leads to decreased metabolic activity for internally generated movements, but not for visually guided motor tasks, and suggest the motor cortex is "plastic" and a potential site for the storage of motor skills. | Read More » Putting the brakes on pain: Researchers protect GABA neurons from oxidative stress  | In a mouse model of neuropathic pain, researchers used antioxidants to preserve GABA neurons post-injury. The result: Less pain behavior. | Read More » Feelings for fetus may vary smoking amount  | In a small new study, researchers report that pregnant smokers who felt less emotional attachment to their fetuses may have smoked more than women with greater feelings of attachment. | Read More » Understanding interface properties of graphene paves way for new applications  | Researchers have revealed more about graphene's mechanical properties and demonstrated a technique to improve the stretchability of graphene -- developments that should help engineers and designers come up with new technologies that make use of the material. | Read More » Breastfeeding may reduce Alzheimer's risk  | Mothers who breastfeed their children may have a lower risk of developing Alzheimer's Disease, with longer periods of breastfeeding also lowering the overall risk, a new study suggests. | Read More » Seeing depth through a single lens  | Researchers have developed a way for photographers and microscopists to create a 3D image through a single lens, without moving the camera. | Read More » Depressed fish could help in the search for new drug treatments  | Antidepressant normalizes the behavior of zebrafish with a defective stress hormone receptor. | Read More » Working-life training and maternity leave are related to slower cognitive decline in later life  | Employment gaps may promote but also reduce cognitive function in older age, as new research has shown. In particular, some of the findings suggest that leaves reported as unemployment and sickness are associated with higher risk of cognitive impairment indicating that these kinds of employment gaps may decrease cognitive reserve in the long run. Strongest evidence was found for training and maternity leave being related to slower cognitive decline, suggesting beneficial associations of these kinds of leaves on cognitive function. | Read More » Moss beats human: Simple moss plants outperform us by gene number  | At the genetic level, mosses are more complex than humans: Scientists have now describe 32,275 protein-encoding genes from the moss Physcomitrella patens. This is about 10,000 genes more than the human genome contains. Mosses are tiny plants with a simple body plan: They have no roots, no flowers and do not produce seeds. Therefore, they were for a long time they were considered to be simple organisms also at the genetic level. | Read More » Obesity more likely in preschoolers drinking sugar-sweetened beverages  | Young children who regularly drink sugary beverages are more likely to gain excessive weight and become obese, according to new research. | Read More » Heterogeneous nanoblocks give polymers an edge  | A new uncovers the effects of size variation in nanoscale blocks used in polymer mixes. | Read More » Immune system molecule promotes tumor resistance to anti-angiogenic therapy  | Scientists have shown for the first time that a signaling protein involved in inflammation also promotes tumor resistance to anti-angiogenic therapy. | Read More » Interface superconductivity withstands variations in atomic configuration  | Scientists discover that critical temperature remains constant across interface superconductors regardless of changes in electron doping levels, challenging leading theories. | Read More » Origin of inflammation-driven pancreatic cancer decoded  | Researchers have revealed the process by which chronic inflammation of the pancreas, pancreatitis, morphs into pancreatic cancer. They say their findings point to ways to identify pancreatitis patients at risk of pancreatic cancer and to potential drug therapies that might reverse the process. | Read More » Do antioxidants improve a woman's chances of conceiving?  | There is no high quality evidence that antioxidant supplements help to increase a woman's chances of having a baby, according to the results of a new systematic review. The review found women were no more likely to conceive when taking oral antioxidants and that there was limited information about potential harms. | Read More » New research aids ability to predict solar storms, protect Earth  | Three new solar modeling developments are bringing scientists closer to being able to predict the occurrence and timing of coronal mass ejections from the sun. | Read More » Mechanism that allows bacteria to infect plants may inspire cure for eye disease  | By borrowing a tool from bacteria that infect plants, scientists have developed a new approach to eliminate mutated DNA inside mitochondria -- the energy factories within cells. Doctors might someday use the approach to treat a variety of mitochondrial diseases, including the degenerative eye disease Leber hereditary optic neuropathy. | Read More » Are we there yet? How the brain keeps eyes on the prize  | Researchers reveal how the brain remains focused on long-term goals. "Are we there yet?" As anyone who has traveled with young children knows, maintaining focus on distant goals can be a challenge. A new study suggests how the brain achieves this task, and indicates that the neurotransmitter dopamine may signal the value of long-term rewards. The findings may also explain why patients with Parkinson's disease -- in which dopamine signaling is impaired -- often have difficulty in sustaining motivation to finish tasks. | Read More » Researchers dismantle bacteria's war machinery  | This is a veritable mechanics of aggression on the nanoscale. Certain bacteria, including Staphylococcus aureus, have the ability to deploy tiny darts. This biological weapon kills the host cell by piercing the membrane. Researchers at EPFL have dismantled, piece by piece, this intriguing little machine. This discovery offers new insight into the fight against pathogens that are increasingly resistant to antibiotics. | Read More » Materials break, then remake, bonds to build strength: Bending synthetic material makes it stronger, not weaker  | Microscopic tears in a new kind of human-made material may actually help the substance bulk up like a bodybuilder at the gym. | Read More » Making a mini Mona Lisa: Nanotechnique creates image on surface less than a third the hair's width  | Scientists have "painted" the Mona Lisa on a substrate surface approximately 30 microns in width -- or one-third the width of a human hair. The team's creation, the "Mini Lisa," demonstrates a technique that could potentially be used to achieve nanomanufacturing of devices because the team was able to vary the surface concentration of molecules on such short-length scales. | Read More » Centers throughout the brain work together to make reading possible  | A combination of brain scans and reading tests has revealed that several regions in the brain are responsible for allowing humans to read. | Read More » How switch proteins are extracted from the membrane: Proteins hoist the anchor  | Researchers have for the first time successfully reproduced the recycling process of proteins regulating cellular transport in a biophysical experiment. In doing so, they traced in detail the way the central switch protein Rab is being extracted from the lipid membrane. | Read More » Disappearance of coral reefs, drastically altered marine food web on the horizon  | If history's closest analog is any indication, the look of the oceans will change drastically in the future as the coming greenhouse world alters marine food webs and gives certain species advantages over others. | Read More » Distinct brain disorders biologically linked: Disruption to the gene TOP3B increases susceptibility to schizophrenia and a learning disorder  | Scientists have shown that schizophrenia and a disorder associated with autism and learning difficulties share a common biological pathway. This is one of the first times that researchers have uncovered genetic evidence for the underlying causes of schizophrenia. | Read More » Ozone-protection treaty had climate benefits, too  | The global treaty that headed off destruction of Earth's protective ozone layer has also prevented major disruption of global rainfall patterns, even though that was not a motivation for the treaty, according to a new study. | Read More » 3-D IR images now in full color  | Researchers have created the first technique to offer full color IR tomography, a non-destructive 3D imaging process that provides molecular-level chemical information of unprecedented detail on biological and other specimens with no need to stain or alter the specimen. | Read More » Close-up view of water pores needed in the eye's lens: Aquaporins could hold clues to cataract  | Researchers have achieved dynamic, atomic-scale views of a protein needed to maintain the transparency of the lens in the human eye. The work could lead to new insights and drugs for treating cataract and a variety of other health conditions. | Read More » | |
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