|  Rising temperatures challenge Salt Lake City's water supply  | In an example of the challenges water-strapped Western cities will face in a warming world, new research shows that every degree Fahrenheit of warming in the Salt Lake City region could mean a 1.8 to 6.5 percent drop in the annual flow of streams that provide water to the city. | Read More » Double-pronged attack could treat common children's cancer  | A dual-pronged strategy using two experimental cancer drugs together could successfully treat a childhood cancer by inhibiting tumor growth and blocking off the escape routes it uses to become resistant to treatment, finds a new study. | Read More » 'Immune fingerprints' may help diagnose bacterial infections, guide treatment  | Bacterial infections in dialysis patients leave an "immune fingerprint" that can be used to improve diagnosis and to guide treatment. Routine monitoring of these complex immune fingerprints could benefit patients with different types of infections. | Read More » Pregnant women who snore at higher risk for c-sections, delivering smaller babies  | Snoring during pregnancy may be more than a nuisance -- mothers who snored three or more nights a week had a higher risk of poor delivery outcomes. | Read More » A patchwork of genetic variation found in the brain: Surprising degree of variation among genomes of individual neurons from same brain  | It was once thought that each cell in a person's body possesses the same DNA code and that the particular way the genome is read imparts cell function and defines the individual. For many cell types in our bodies, however, that is an oversimplification. Studies of neuronal genomes published in the past decade have turned up extra or missing chromosomes, or pieces of DNA that can copy and paste themselves throughout the genomes. | Read More » Bipolar and pregnant  | New research offers one of the first in-depth views of how metabolism changes during pregnancy reduce the effect of a commonly used drug to treat bipolar disorder. The blood level of the drug decreased during pregnancy, resulting in worsening symptoms. The new findings can help physicians prevent bipolar manic and depressive episodes in their pregnant patients, which are risky for the health of the mother and her unborn child. | Read More » 'Flipping the switch' reveals new compounds with antibiotic potential  | Researchers have discovered that one gene in a common fungus acts as a master regulator, and deleting it has opened access to a wealth of new compounds that have never before been studied -- with the potential to identify new antibiotics. | Read More » Global warming led to dwarfism in mammals -- twice  | Mammal body size decreased significantly during at least two ancient global warming events, a new finding that suggests a similar outcome is possible in response to human-caused climate change, according to paleontologists. | Read More » Synaptic transistor learns while it computes  | It doesn't take a Watson to realize that even the world's best supercomputers are staggeringly inefficient and energy-intensive machines. Our brains have upwards of 86 billion neurons, connected by synapses that not only complete myriad logic circuits; they continuously adapt to stimuli, strengthening some connections while weakening others. We call that process learning, and it enables the kind of rapid, highly efficient computational processes that put Siri and Blue Gene to shame. | Read More » Crashing rockets could lead to novel sample-return technology  | In early 2013, University of Washington students launched rockets from kites and balloons into a dry Nevada lakebed, early tests of a concept to collect and return samples from forbidding environments. | Read More » Non-genetic inheritance and changing environments  | In the last two decades climate change emerged as a momentous threat to ecosystems and species, calling for - politics aside - a greater interest in the adaptation abilities of the world's creatures. Understanding and predicting how populations will respond to climate fluctuations has been attracting a wealth of research into evolutionary biology and the molecular components of evolution; with some vital questions motivating these studies: namely, how organisms will handle their new circumstances, or how populations will be able to cope with climate change in order to survive and avoid extinction. With the far-reaching impacts of climate change being felt globally, it is no wonder that scientists are desperate to understand evolution and its implications for adaptation abilities. | Read More » Can putting your child before yourself make you a happier person?  | While popular media often depicts highly-involved parents negatively as "helicopter parents" or "tiger moms, how does placing one's children at the center of family life really affect parental well-being? New research finds that parents who prioritize their children's well-being over their own are not only happier, but also derive more meaning in life from their child-rearing responsibilities. | Read More » | |
