Wednesday, November 6, 2013

FeedaMail: ScienceDaily: Most Popular News

feedamail.com ScienceDaily: Most Popular News

Clay may have been birthplace of life, new study suggests

Clay -- a seemingly infertile blend of minerals -- might have been the birthplace of life on Earth. Or at least of the complex biochemicals that make life possible, biological engineers report.

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NASA researchers to flying insects: 'Bug off! '

When flying insects get in the way of an airplane's wing during takeoff or landing, it's not just the bugs that suffer. Those little blasts of bug guts disrupt the laminar -- or smooth -- flow of air over the airplane's wings, creating more drag on the airplane and contributing to increased fuel consumption. That's why a group of researchers at NASA's Langley Research Center -- the "bug team" -- recently ran several flight tests of coatings that may one day reduce the amount of bug contamination on the wings of commercial aircraft.

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New aluminum alloy stores hydrogen: Versatile, lightweight material opens the door to fuel cells of the future

We use aluminum to make planes lightweight, store sodas in recyclable containers, keep the walls of our homes energy efficient and ensure that the Thanksgiving turkey is cooked to perfection. Now there may soon be a new application for the versatile metal: hydrogen storage for fuel cells.

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Scientists use light to uncover the cause of sickle cell disease

In sickle cell disease, hemoglobin -- the oxygen-carrying component of blood -- forms fibers that stiffen red blood cells and cause life-threatening symptoms. Using light-scattering techniques to study the detailed thermodynamics of this process, researchers have determined the strength of the forces that hold these fibers intact. The information could be used to design therapies that interfere with the sickling process.

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The next big thing in the energy sector: Photovoltaic generated DC electricity

A viable solution for sustainable energy transmission is the onsite generation of electricity using the photovoltaic method of converting solar energy directly into electrical energy.

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Galaxy growth examined like rings of a tree

Galaxies outlive trees by billions of years, making their growth impossible to see. But like biologists reading tree rings, astronomers can read the rings in a galaxy's disk to unravel its past. Using data from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) and Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX), scientists have acquired more evidence for the "inside-out" theory of galaxy growth, showing that bursts of star formation in central regions were followed one to two billion years later by star birth in the outer fringes.

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Understanding what makes a thin film solar cell efficient

Scientists have developed a new technique for manufacturing high-efficiency, flexible, thin film solar cells from CIGS (copper indium gallium di-selenide) semiconductors. This has enabled them to achieve an efficiency of 20.4 percent for the conversion of sunlight into electrical energy. As the solar cells are deposited onto plastic foils, they could be produced on an industrial scale using cost-effective roll-to-roll manufacturing.

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New cancer targeting technique to improve cancer drugs

Cancer drugs work because they're toxic, but that's also why they afflict healthy cells, producing side effects that can compromise their efficacy. Researchers may have found a way to get the drugs to selectively target only the cancer cells.

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Drug combination therapy causes cancer cells to 'eat themselves'

Results from a recent preclinical study have shown that a new drug combination therapy effectively killed colon, liver, lung, kidney, breast and brain cancer cells while having little effect on noncancerous cells. The results lay the foundation for researchers to plan a future phase 1 clinical trial to test the safety of the therapy in a small group of patients.

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Play promotes emotional healing in children battling serious illnesses

Playing out medical experiences can help chronically ill children, as well as their siblings, express fears and foster hope for recovery.

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Muggings more than double in London after dark

Muggers in London strike around two and half times more often during hours of darkness then in daylight, a new study shows.

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Machines learn to detect breast cancer

Software that can recognize patterns in data is commonly used by scientists and economics. Now, researchers in the US have applied similar algorithms to help them more accurately diagnose breast cancer.

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How pigeons may smell their way home

Homing pigeons are extraordinary navigators, but how they manage to find their way back to their lofts is still debated. To navigate, birds require a 'map' (to tell them home is south, for example) and a 'compass' (to tell them where south is), with the sun and the Earth's magnetic field being the preferred compass systems. A new paper provides evidence that the information pigeons use as a map is in fact available in the atmosphere: odors and winds allow them to find their way home.

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A single-atom light switch: New switch is powerful tool for quantum information and quantum communication

With just a single atom, light can be switched between two fiber optic cables. Such a switch enables quantum phenomena to be used for information and communication technology.

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Motion of the ocean: Predicting the big swells

New research will help you every morning with the surf report. It is estimated that 75 per cent of waves across the world are not actually generated by local winds. Instead, they are driven by distant storms which propagate as swell.

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Emissions pricing revenues could overcompensate profit losses of fossil fuel owners

Revenues from global carbon emission pricing could exceed the losses fossil fuel owners suffer from this policy. Stabilizing global warming at around 2 degrees Celsius by cutting greenhouse-gas emissions from fossil fuels would mean to leave much of coal, gas and oil unused underground.

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Centuries-old elephant imposter unmasked

Through state-of-the-art ancient DNA and protein research and an extensive investigation of historical literature, researchers have determined a 300-year-old type specimen for Asian elephants is actually an African elephant.

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Do you want the good news or the bad news first?

There's good news and there's bad news. Which do you want to hear first? That depends on whether you are the giver or receiver of bad news, and if the news-giver wants the receiver to act on the information.

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Hurricane Sandy's impact measured by millions of Flickr pictures

A new study has discovered a striking connection between the number of pictures of Hurricane Sandy posted on Flickr and the atmospheric pressure in New Jersey as the hurricane crashed through the US state in 2012.

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Repetition in music pulls us in, together

A researcher explores the psychology of repetition in music, across time, style and cultures.

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Gambling addicts present brain function abnormalities that affect their decision-making capacity

Researchers have analyzed similarities and differences in psychological profile and brain function when comparing cocaine addicts and gambling addicts. The study reveals that gambling addicts present brain function abnormalities affecting their decision-making capacity.

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Bad boys: Research predicts whether boys will grow out of it or not

Using the hi-tech tools of a new field called neurogenetics and a few simple questions for parents, a researcher is beginning to understand which boys are simply being boys and which may be headed for trouble.

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Knife-wielding robot trains for grocery checkout job using new coactive learning technique

Engineers have taught a robot to work in a mock-supermarket checkout line, modifying a Baxter robot from Rethink Robotics in Boston to "coactively learn" from humans and make adjustments while an action is in progress.

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Microbes in the gut help determine risk of tumors

Transferring the gut microbes from a mouse with colon tumors to germ-free mice makes those mice prone to getting tumors as well, according to the results of a study. The work has implications for human health because it indicates the risk of colorectal cancer may well have a microbial component.

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Higher rates of diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, stroke in 'food desert'

A study has examined the health impact of developing a grocery store in a low-income urban neighborhood on the east side of Indianapolis. Researchers from Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis and the Marion County Public Health Department found that residents of the community have much higher rates of diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and stroke than in other areas of Marion County.

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Astronomy: White dwarfs hide information on dark forces

Researchers have ruled out a multitude of possible parameters for dark photons - a type of dark matter and energy - with the help of white dwarfs. In some aspects, the shining of these dying stars gives more information on dark forces than is provided by Earth-based laboratories.

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Global map provides new insights into land use

In order to assess the global impacts of land use on the environment and help provide appropriate countermeasures, a group of researchers has created a new world map of land use systems. Based on various indicators of land-use intensity, climate, environmental and socio-economic conditions, they identified twelve global patterns called land system archetypes.

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Visual representations improved by reducing noise in the brain

Neuroscientists have revealed how the activity of neurons in an important area of the rhesus macaque's brain becomes less variable when they represent important visual information during an eye movement task. This reduction in variability can improve the perceptual strength of attended or relevant aspects in a visual scene, and is enhanced when the animals are more motivated to perform the task.

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Hypersensitivity to pain produced by early life stress worsened by later stress exposure

Childhood neglect and abuse, whether physical or psychological, confers a lifetime vulnerability to stress, anxiety, and mood problems. Such early-life stress is also suspected to contribute to the development of chronic pain in adulthood. In fact, there is growing concern that chronic pain syndromes may be a complication of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, this link is particularly challenging to study because many stressful events that produce PTSD also produce physical trauma.

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New ligament discovered‬ in the human knee

Two knee surgeons have discovered a previously unknown ligament in the human knee. This ligament appears to play an important role in patients with anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears.

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Intelligent training with a fitness shirt and an e-bike

Fabric manufacturers are experiencing a revolution at present: if clothing previously offered protection against the cold, rain, and snow, the trend now is toward intelligent, proactive, high-tech textiles like self-cleaning jackets, gloves that recognize toxins, and ski anoraks with integrated navigational devices to make life easier for those wearing them. Clever clothing like this is being developed.

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iPhone app offers individual hearing support

Transmission losses and background noise can considerably impair speech intelligibility when making calls on a cell phone – particularly for people who suffer from hearing loss. Hearing research scientists have now developed an app for the iPhone that improves speech intelligibility for internet phone calls made using Voice over IP technology. In addition to allowing adjustment of loudness and sound settings to meet individual preferences, the app is also able to compensate for hearing loss.

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Oldest ice core: Finding a 1.5 million-year record of Earth's climate

How far into the past can ice-core records go? Scientists have now identified regions in Antarctica they say could store information about Earth's climate and greenhouse gases extending as far back as 1.5 million years, almost twice as old as the oldest ice core drilled to date.

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The leviton, a silent electron wave

Physicists have succeeded in injecting a few electrons into a conductor without causing any disturbance to it. This result has been achieved by generating ultra-short electrical pulses with a Lorentzian distribution in the time domain. The quantum electron wave obtained in this way has been named a leviton.

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Endometriosis risk linked to two pesticides

A study has found that two organochlorine pesticides are associated with an increased risk of endometriosis, a condition that affects up to 10 percent of reproductive-age women.

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Non-celiac wheat sensitivity: Is it an allergy?

Patients with non-celiac wheat sensitivity and other food sensitivities showed clinical, laboratory and histological characteristics suggesting they may be suffering from a non-IgE-mediated food allergy, according to new research.

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Closer to vaccine against C. difficile

A group of leading scientists from across Europe have launched a three-year project aimed at developing an oral vaccine against Clostridium difficile, an infection that kills 4,000 people a year (almost four-times more than MRSA) and for which there is currently no effective treatments.

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Elusive bay cat caught on camera

The world's least known cat has been caught on camera in a previously unsurveyed rainforest.

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New strep throat risk score brings data together to improve care

A new risk measure called a "home score" could save a patient with symptoms of strep throat a trip to the doctor, according to a new paper. The score combines patients' symptoms and demographic information with data on local strep throat activity to estimate their strep risk, empowering them to seek care appropriately.

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Reduce unnecessary lab tests, decrease costs by modifying software

When patients undergo diagnostic lab tests as part of the inpatient admission process, they may wonder why or how physicians choose particular tests. Increasingly, medical professionals are using electronic medical systems that provide lists of lab tests from to choose. Now, researchers have studied how to modify these lists to ensure health professionals order relevant tests and omit unnecessary lab tests, which could result in better care and reduced costs.

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Cutting-edge detector technology for astronomical observations developed

Semiconductors have had a nice run, but for certain applications, such as astrophysics, they are being edged out by superconductors. Scientists have now developed a superconducting detector array that measures the energy of individual photons.

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Foreign-educated health workers play vital role in US health system

Foreign-educated and foreign-born health professionals play a vital role in the US health care workforce, particularly in addressing needs in primary care and other areas with worker shortages, according to a new study. However, there is no cohesive national strategy on the issue, which may contribute to a less-stable US health care workforce.

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Eating disorders more common in males than realized

Parents and doctors assume eating disorders very rarely affect males. However, a study of 5,527 teenage males from across the US challenges this belief. Researchers found 17.9 percent of adolescent boys were extremely concerned about their weight and physique. These boys were more likely to start engaging in risky behaviors, including drug use and frequent binge drinking.

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Researchers offer solutions to looming healthcare provider shortage

Thanks to a wave of aging baby boomers, epidemics of diabetes and obesity, and the Affordable Care Act, which aims to bring health care coverage to millions more Americans, the United States faces a severe shortage of primary health care providers. In a series of papers published in the November 2013 issue of Health Affairs, researchers at UC San Francisco advocated a number of potential solutions to the problem.

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Solving pediatric obesity problem in rural communities

Using telemedicine to unite clinicians and provide health education for them -- and by extension, their patients -- is an effective way to manage childhood obesity in remote areas. For these communities, which often have limited access to pediatric subspecialists, having a HEALTH-COP can make all the difference.

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Physician shortage could be cut by new primary care models

The US expects a substantial shortages of primary care physicians in the future. A new study finds that much of that gap could be eliminated if the nation increases use of new models of care that expand the role of nurse practitioners and physician assistants. Under plausible expansion scenarios, patient-centered medical homes and nurse-managed health centers could eliminate 50 percent or more of the primary care physician shortage by 2025.

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Electronic, internet health tools may decrease in-person physician visits

An analysis of recent trends in digital health care and a review of the scientific literature suggests patients' future use of physician services will change dramatically as electronic health records and consumer e-health "apps" proliferate.

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'Smarter' blood pressure guidelines could prevent heart attacks, strokes

Current medical guidelines use a one-size-fits-all treatment approach that leads to some heart and stroke patients being on too many medications and others being on too little.

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Women, African-Americans at higher risk of heart attack from atrial fibrillation

Doctors have known for years that atrial fibrillation (AF), or irregular heartbeat, increases the risk for stroke, but now researchers have shown that it also increases the risk for heart attack. In fact, for women and African Americans, it more than doubles the risk.

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Hot-air balloon rides - researchers advise 'proceed with caution'

Investigation of hot-air balloon-related injuries and deaths in the U.S. reports that targeted interventions may improve crash outcomes and decrease the number and severity of balloon crash injuries.

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Genetic study demonstrates Israel's wild boars originated in Europe

Scientists had no reason to suspect Israeli wild boars were any different than their brothers and sisters roaming the Middle East. Now, a researcher demonstrates that, unlike the Near Eastern wild boars in surrounding countries, Israel's wild boars originated in Europe, brought to Israel starting almost 3,000 years ago by the Philistines and other seafaring raiders.

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Diamond imperfections pave the way to technology gold

Using ultrafast 2-D electronic spectroscopy, researchers have recorded unprecedented observations of energy moving through the atom-sized diamond impurities known as nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers. Their results provide information on NV centers that is important for such highly promising advanced technologies as supersensitive detections of magnetic fields and quantum computing.

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How common are habitable planets? One in five sun-like stars may have Earth-size, potentially habitable planets

Astronomers analyzed all four years of Kepler data in search of Earth-size planets in the habitable zones of sun-like stars, and then rigorously tested how many planets they may have missed. Based on this analysis, they estimate that 22 percent of stars like the sun have potentially habitable Earth-size planets, though not all may be rocky or have liquid water, a presumed prerequisite for life.

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Dolphin genetic study provides revelations

A 10-year study found genetic differences in dolphins that were along geographic lines: onshore, offshore and even within same general area, such as the Indian River Lagoon in Florida.

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Repetition of rare events could reduce screening mistakes by security

The failure to detect infrequent, but obvious security threats at airport screenings and other checkpoints may have less to do with incompetence or poor training than a human tendency to overlook rare events. But a researcher suggests guards could improve their detection rates the same way adults learn vocabulary words -- through repetition.

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New insights into brain neuronal networks

A paper published proposes a novel understanding of brain architecture using a network representation of connections within the primate cortex.

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A better way to track your every move: Algorithm accurately tracks physical activity no matter where you carry your phone

Physical activity tracking apps on smartphones are a potentially important tool for doctors who want to collect data and create treatment or intervention plans to improve the health of patients who struggle with activity and movement -- such as those with Parkinson's disease.

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Gas injection probably triggered small earthquakes near Snyder, Texas

A series of small earthquakes near Snyder, Texas between 2006 and 2011 were probably triggered by the underground injection of large volumes of gas, primarily carbon dioxide -- a finding that has implications for the process of carbon capture and storage. Experts also note that similar rates of injections have not triggered comparable quakes in other fields, bolstering the idea that gas injection does not cause significant seismic events in many geologic settings.

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Wives matter more when it comes to calming down marital conflicts

Marriage can be a battlefield. But a new study has found that, when it comes to keeping the peace, it's more important for wives -- than for husbands -- to calm down after a heated argument.

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Fossil of largest known platypus discovered in Australia

Until recently, the fossil record indicated that the platypus lineage was unique, with only one species inhabiting the Earth at any one time. This picture has changed with the spectacular find of a new, giant species of extinct platypus that was a side-branch of the platypus family tree.

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Staying alive in the high and dry

New research published this week sheds light on how desert plants gain nutrients they desperately need -- even in the driest circumstances.

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Intestinal bacteria linked to rheumatoid arthritis

Researchers have linked a species of intestinal bacteria known as Prevotella copri to the onset of rheumatoid arthritis, the first demonstration in humans that the chronic inflammatory joint disease may be mediated in part by specific intestinal bacteria. The new findings add to the growing evidence that the trillions of microbes in our body play an important role in regulating our health.

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Holograms offer hope in fight against malaria

Scientists have developed a 3D filming technique that could help inform research to stem the spread of malaria.

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Carbon storage recovers faster than plant biodiversity in re-growing tropical forests

A new study of re-growing tropical forests has concluded that plant biodiversity takes longer to recover than carbon storage following major disturbances such as clearance for farming.

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Breakthrough could lead to new treatment for heart attack

The stop and start of blood flow to the heart during and after a heart attack causes severe damage to heart cells, reducing their capacity to function and potentially causing their death. But a recent study suggests that it is possible to limit the extent of that damage using a drug. The findings have significant potential for translation into heart attack patients in a clinical setting.

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Gene is linked to deadly runaway fungal infection

For most people, a fungal infection like athlete's foot means a simple trip to the drugstore and a reminder to bring shower shoes to the gym. But in very rare cases, fungal infections can spread below the skin's surface and onto the lymph nodes, bones, digestive tract or even the brain. Researchers have now discovered a genetic deficiency that allows the fungus to spread in this way, which explains why treatments sometimes do not work.

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Report shows extent to which social background matters for academic success

Children of similar intelligence have very different levels of educational attainment depending on their social backgrounds, says a large-scale study. The research team studied cohorts of children born in Britain and Sweden from the 1940s to the 1970s. They found that bright children from advantaged social backgrounds were twice as likely to achieve A-levels as similarly able children from the least advantaged social backgrounds.

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Early bird catches the worm - for dinner

Birds, such as great and blue tits, scout for food in the morning but only return to eat it in late afternoon to maximize their chances of evading predators in the day without starving to death overnight.

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Spider's super-thin ribbons key to silk tech

The silk of a spider feared for its venomous bite could be the key to creating new super-sticky films and wafer-thin electronics and sensors for medical implants that are highly compatible with the human body.

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Effects of chronic stress can be traced to your genes

New research suggests that if you're working for a really bad boss over a long period of time, that experience may play out at the level of gene expression in your immune system.

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Stressed-out trees boost sugary rewards to ant defenders

When water is scarce, Ecuador laurel trees ramp up their investment in a syrupy treat that sends resident ant defenders into overdrive, protecting the trees from defoliation by leaf-munching pests.

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Interactive computer program helps patients talk with physician about depression

Patients who used an interactive computer program about depression while waiting to see their primary-care doctor were nearly twice as likely to ask about the condition and significantly more likely to receive a recommendation for antidepressant drugs or a mental-health referral from their physician, according to a new study.

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Determining the quantum geometry of a crystal

Physicists have succeeded in measuring geometric properties of energy bands in light crystals.

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Astronomers establish the strength of high-inclination asteroids

Astronomers have been observing faint asteroids with highly inclined orbits. They found that a smaller fraction of tiny bodies occur among high-inclination asteroids than those near the ecliptic plane. This means that large asteroids in high-velocity collisions between asteroids probably have a greater increase of strength in resisting disruption than those in the present mean-velocity collisions. Clarification of the relationship between collisional velocity and asteroids' disruptive strength is helpful in understanding the collisional evolution of asteroids in the early Solar System.

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Smart water meters stop money going down the drain

Water is increasingly becoming one of Australia's most precious commodities, yet leaking taps and pipes may be costing householders an extra 10 percent on their water bills.

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Audio processing: Computers following the brain's lead

When designed to process sound based on familiar patterns, sound recognition by computers becomes more robust.

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Volume of nuclear waste could be reduced by 90 percent, says new research

Engineers have developed a way to significantly reduce the volume of some higher activity nuclear wastes, which will reduce the cost of interim storage and final disposal.

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Holograms set for greatness

A new technique that combines optical plates to manipulate laser light improves the quality of holograms.

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Genetic aberration paves the way for new treatment of cancer disease

Researchers have characterized a genetic aberration on a group of colorectal cancer patients. The discovery gives hope for a new and efficient treatment of colorectal cancer, which is a frequent and often fatal disease.

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Identifying young people with type 1 diabetes at risk of heart, kidney disease

Using a simple urine test, researchers can now identify young people with type 1 diabetes at risk of heart and kidney disease.

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Personal reflection triggers increased brain activity during depressive episodes

Research has found that people experiencing depressive episodes display increased brain activity when they think about themselves.

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New report calls for sustained public endorsement, funding for human stem cell research

A strategic report from the European Science Foundation examines the key scientific questions for human stem cell research in the context of the rapidly emerging field of regenerative medicine. In parallel to the potential new treatments for incurable diseases resulting from stem cell research, heated ethical and legal debates have arisen across the world.

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Comprehending comprehension

What makes a good reader? First, you have to know how to read the words on a page and understand them -- but there's a higher-level step to reading comprehension. You have to tie together the words over time, maintaining their order and meaning in your memory, so that you can understand phrases, sentences, paragraphs and extended texts.

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Severe chronic depression more likely in child sex abuse victims

A new study reveals the highest risk variables of chronic depression in the population -- such as having suffered previous episodes of depression, delayed treatment, whether related to other physical or mental health problems, or having suffered sexual abuse during childhood -- affects almost half of patients seeking treatment for depression and carries with it significant problems in terms of disability, suffering and the cost of healthcare.

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Unnecessary TB deaths to be thing of the past thanks to mobile drug resistance test device

Thousands of deaths from tuberculosis (or TB), an infectious bacterial disease, could be prevented using a new hand-held device that is being developed to detect potentially fatal drug resistance in less than 15 minutes.

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Playing pop and rock music boosts performance of solar cells

Playing pop and rock music improves the performance of solar cells, according to new research.

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Creatures of influence

An international research team has developed mathematical tools that can estimate which species are most influential in a food web.

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Nanoscale 'tsunami' helps locusts tune in

The remarkable mechanism by which the tiny ears of locusts can hear and distinguish between different tones has been discovered by researchers. Understanding how the nanoscale features of the insect eardrum mechanically process sound could open up practical possibilities for the fabrication of embedded signal processing in extremely small microphones.

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Male lizards prefer more-feminine lizards to 'bearded ladies'

Mating-behavior studies of lizards in three southern US states have revealed which females male lizards find to be the sexiest. The research provides insight into the evolution of male-female differences.

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Japanese superfood prevents flu infection

Scientists have discovered that bacteria found in a traditional Japanese pickle can prevent flu. Could this be the next superfood?

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3-dimensional carbon goes metallic

A theoretical, three-dimensional form of carbon that is metallic under ambient temperature and pressure has been discovered by an international research team.

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Perfect faults: A self-correcting crystal may unleash the next generation of advanced communications

Researchers are engineering and measuring a potentially important new class of nanostructured materials for microwave and advanced communication devices. These new multilayered crystalline sandwiches might enable a whole new class of compact, high-performance, high-efficiency components for devices such as cellular phones.

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Touch may alleviate existential fears for people with low self-esteem

As human beings, we all know that we are going to die some day. Most of us deal with this knowledge by trying to live meaningful lives, but people with low self-esteem tend not to see their lives as particularly meaningful. Now, research suggests that touch may help people with low self-esteem in confronting their own mortality.

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Scientists solve major piece in the origin of biological complexity

Scientists have puzzled for centuries over how and why multicellular organisms evolved the almost universal trait of using single cells, such as eggs and sperm, to reproduce. Now researchers have set a big piece of that puzzle into place by applying experimental evolution to transform a single-celled algae into a multicellular one that reproduces by dispersing single cells.

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Don't get sick in July

With almost no experience, newly graduated medical students enter teaching hospitals around the country every July, beginning their careers as interns. At the same time, the last year's interns and junior residents take a step up and assume new responsibilities. More experienced physicians share a joke about this changing of the guard: Don't get sick in July.

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New compact atomic clock design uses cold atoms to boost precision

Physicists have demonstrated a compact atomic clock design that relies on cold rubidium atoms instead of the usual hot atoms, a switch that promises improved precision and stability.

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For young baseball players, light bats don't hit too fast

The use of non-wood bats in youth baseball has spurred decades of controversy about whether they propel the ball too fast, in part because of their higher bat-to-ball energy transfer -- the "trampoline effect." A study finds that in some cases non-wood bats do not hit the ball any faster. In the hands of young teen players, for example, lighter non-wood bats hit the ball at wood-like speeds.

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Nature's great diversity: Remarkable 277 new wasp species from Costa Rica

Costa Rica reveals astonishing biodiversity of braconid wasps, with 277 new species of the tribe Heterospilini described, from a total of 286 attributed to the group. The study is the second part of an extensive two-part study of the braconid subfamily Doryctinae from Costa Rica, to reveal the great species diversity within such a small territory.

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Cocktail novelties inspired by nature's designs

A mathematician and a celebrity chef have combined talents to create two culinary novelties inspired by nature.

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Prognostic value of baseline survival determined for 11 types of cancer

Results of a study point out the prognostic value of baseline recorded health-related quality of life for survival for eleven types of cancer: brain, breast, colorectal, esophageal, head and neck, lung, melanoma, ovarian, pancreatic, prostate, and testicular cancer. For each cancer site, at least one health-related quality of life parameter provided additional prognostic information over and above the clinical and sociodemographic variables.

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Locking down the cloud

A software re-encryption system could allow users to pay for and run applications "in the cloud" without revealing their identity to the cloud host. The same approach would also allow the software providers to lock out malicious users.

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Negative effects of road noises on migratory birds

A new study shows that the negative effects of roads on wildlife are largely because of traffic noise.

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Challenges to assumptions about bisexual men, HIV transmission

The number of HIV positive men who have sex with both men and women is likely no higher than the number of HIV positive heterosexual men, according to a US-based analysis. The finding challenges a popular assumption that bisexual men are responsible for significant HIV transmission to their female partners.

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Conversations between lovers about STIs important in theory but difficult in bed

Having sex can be fun; talking about sex can be fun. Talking about STIs with a sexual interest, however, is a totally different matter, according to new research. The study found a disconnect between the public health messages that promote STI testing as a way to prevent STIs such as HIV and chlamydia and the conversations occurring in bedrooms.

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Health benefits of wild blueberries abound

New research shows that regular long-term wild blueberry diets may help improve or prevent pathologies associated with the metabolic syndrome, including cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

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Sports Decision Review System: Hawk-eye or human eye?

For ardent sports fans, decision review technology – popularly known as Hawk-Eye – is having a 'marmite moment'. It's either welcomed as a definitive mechanism to assist a referee make the right decision or an imperfect tool which has done nothing to improve the enjoyment of sporting fixtures.  Now used in a wide range of games including football, tennis, hurling and Gaelic football, it has often proved controversial.   

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Clean Air Act has led to improved water quality in the Chesapeake Bay watershed

A new study shows that the reduction of pollution emissions from power plants in the mid-Atlantic is making an impact on the quality of the water that ends up in the Chesapeake Bay.

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Inkjet-based circuits created at fraction of time and cost

Researchers have developed a novel method to rapidly and cheaply make electrical circuits by printing them with commodity inkjet printers and off-the-shelf materials. For about $300 in equipment costs, anyone can produce working electrical circuits in the 60 seconds it takes to print them.

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Testosterone therapy following angiography linked with increased risk of adverse outcomes

Among a group of men who underwent coronary angiography and had a low serum testosterone level, the use of testosterone therapy was associated with increased risk of death, heart attack, or ischemic stroke, according to a study.

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Newly discovered predatory dinosaur 'king of gore' reveals the origins of T. rex

A dinosaur, belonging to the same evolutionary branch as the famous Tyrannosaurus rex has just been discovered.

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