| When it comes to mammals, how big is too big?  | Mammals vary enormously in size, from weighing less than a penny to measuring more than three school buses in length. Some groups of mammals have become very large, such as elephants and whales, while others have always been small, like primates. A new theory provides an explanation for why and how certain groups of organisms are able to evolve gigantic sizes, whereas others are not. | Read More »  Mapping translation sites in the human genome  | Scientists have produced the first genome-wide investigation of cap-independent translation, identifying thousands of mRNA sequences that act as Translation Enhancing Elements, which are RNA sequences upstream of the coding region that help recruit the ribosome to the translation start site. | Read More » Obese male mice father offspring with higher levels of body fat  | Male mice who were fed a high-fat diet and became obese were more likely to father offspring who also had higher levels of body fat, a new study finds. The effect was observed primarily in male offspring, despite their consumption of a low-fat diet, scientists reported. | Read More » Global cooling as significant as global warming, study of marine ecosystems during Cretaceous period shows  | An international study confirms the link between global cooling and a crash in the marine ecosystem similar to that witnessed as a result of global warming. | Read More » Noble gases hitch a ride on hydrous minerals  | The six noble gases do not normally dissolve into minerals, leaving earth scientists to wonder how they are recycled back into the Earth. Now, researchers have discovered that the lattice structure of minerals such as amphibole is actually quite capable of dissolving noble gases. Understanding how noble gases cycle from deep within the Earth to the atmosphere and back could help scientists track the cycling of other volatiles like water and carbon. | Read More » Star-shaped macromolecule grabs large anions  | Chemists have created a symmetrical, five-sided macrocycle that is easy to synthesize and has characteristics that may help expand the molecular tool box available to researchers in biology, chemistry and materials sciences. | Read More » Advances in genetic sequencing diagnose Paralympic hopeful's rare condition  | National Paracycling Champion Tom Staniford has an extremely rare condition which, until now, has puzzled his doctors. He is unable to store fat under his skin -- yet has type 2 diabetes -- and suffered hearing loss as a child. Now, thanks to advances in genome sequencing, an international research team has identified Tom's condition and pinpointed the single genetic mutation that causes it. | Read More » 'Chase and run' cell movement mechanism explains process of metastasis  | A mechanism that cells use to group together and move around the body -- called 'chase and run' -- has been described for the first time by scientists. | Read More » New 'embryonic' subduction zone found  | A new subduction zone forming off the coast of Portugal heralds the beginning of a cycle that will see the Atlantic Ocean close as continental Europe moves closer to America. | Read More » A robot that runs like a cat  | Thanks to its legs, whose design faithfully reproduces feline morphology, a four-legged "cheetah-cub robot" has the same advantages as its model: it is small, light and fast. Still in its experimental stage, the robot will serve as a platform for research in locomotion and biomechanics. | Read More » Genetic diversity key to survival of honey bee colonies  | When it comes to honey bees, more mates is better. A new study shows that genetic diversity is key to survival in honey bee colonies -- meaning a colony is less likely to survive if its queen has had a limited number of mates. | Read More » Babies seeing violence show aggression later  | Aggression in school-age children may have its origins in children 3 years old and younger who witnessed violence between their mothers and partners, according to a new study. | Read More » Psychiatric disorders linked to a protein involved in the formation of long-term memories  | Scientists have discovered a protein that regulates synaptic ion channels that have been tied to bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. | Read More » Sibling aggression linked to poor mental health  | Fights between siblings are so common they're often dismissed as simply part of growing up. Yet a new study finds that sibling aggression is associated with significantly worse mental health in children and adolescents. In some cases, effects of sibling aggression on mental health were the same as those of peer aggression. | Read More » Bullfrogs may help spread deadly amphibian fungus, but also die from it  | Amphibian populations are declining worldwide and a major cause is a deadly fungus thought to be spread by bullfrogs, but a two-year study shows they can also die from this pathogen, contrary to suggestions that bullfrogs are a tolerant carrier host that just spreads the disease. | Read More » Rett Syndrome protein surrenders some of its secrets  | Discovery of a mutant gene responsible for a disease is a milestone, but for most conditions, it may be only a first step towards a treatment or cure. Understanding Rett Syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder, is further complicated by the fact that the implicated gene controls a suite of other genes. Two papers, published in today's Nature Neuroscience and Nature, reveal key steps in how mutations in the gene for methyl CpG-binding protein cause the condition. | Read More » Protein essential for normal heart function identified  | Scientists show that a protein called MCL-1, which promotes cell survival, is essential for normal heart function. | Read More » Medical assessment in the blink of an eye  | Have you ever thought that you knew something about the world in the blink of an eye? It turns out that radiologists can do this with mammograms, the x-ray images used for breast cancer screening. Cytologists, who screen micrographic images of cervical cells to detect cervical cancer, have a similar ability. A new study takes a closer look at the skill these specialists have. | Read More » Is there an invisible tug-of-war behind bad hearts and power outages?  | Researchers report the first purely physical experimental evidence that an invisible and chaotic tug-of-war known as a chimera state can occur naturally within any process that relies on spontaneous synchronization, including clock pendulums, power grids and heart valves. | Read More » Jet stream changes cause climatically exceptional Greenland Ice Sheet melt  | Scientists have shown that unusual changes in atmospheric jet stream circulation caused the exceptional surface melt of the Greenland Ice Sheet in summer 2012. | Read More » NASA's 2013 HS3 hurricane mission to delve into Saharan dust  | NASA's 2013 Hurricane and Severe Storms Sentinel or HS3 mission will investigate whether Saharan dust and its associated warm and dry air, known as the Saharan Air Layer or SAL, favors or suppresses the development of tropical cyclones in the Atlantic Ocean. The effects of Saharan dust on tropical cyclones is a controversial area of science. During the 2012 campaign, NASA's Global Hawk unmanned aircraft gathered valuable data on the dust layer that swirled around Tropical Storm Nadine for several days. | Read More » Artificial sweetener a potential treatment for Parkinson's disease  | Mannitol is widely used as an artificial sweetener in gum and candy, and, with FDA sanction, is also used as a diuretic. Now medical researchers have found that mannitol could also be a novel therapy for the treatment of Parkinson's and other neurodegenerative diseases. | Read More » People attribute minds to robots, corpses that are targets of harm  | As Descartes famously noted, there's no way to really know that another person has a mind -- every mind we observe is, in a sense, a mind we create. Now, new research suggests that victimization may be one condition that leads us to perceive minds in others, even in entities we don't normally think of as having minds, such as a corpse or a robot. | Read More » Eating behaviors of preschoolers may be related to future risk of heart disease  | Eating behaviors of preschoolers may be associated with risk of cardiovascular disease in later life, suggests a new study. | Read More » Artificial bone: Designing synthetic materials and quickly turning the design into reality with 3-D printing  | Researchers have developed a new method to design synthetic materials and quickly turn the design into reality using computer optimization and 3-D printing. | Read More » Exposure to BPA in developing prostate increases risk of later cancer: Ubiquitous plasticizers may have long-term health effects  | Early exposure to BPA (bisphenol A) -- an additive commonly found in plastic water bottles and soup can liners -- causes an increased cancer risk in an animal model of human prostate cancer. | Read More » Prenatal exposure to BPA affects fat tissues in sheep  | New research suggests that fetal exposure to the common environmental chemical bisphenol A, or BPA, causes increased inflammation in fat tissues after birth, which can lead to obesity and metabolic syndrome. | Read More » Chemical in antibacterial soap fed to nursing rats harms offspring, study finds  | A mother's exposure to triclocarban, a common antibacterial chemical, while nursing her babies shortens the life of her female offspring, a new study in rats finds. | Read More » BPA linked to a common birth defect in boys  | A new study links fetal exposure to a common chemical pollutant, bisphenol A (BPA), to defects of a testicular hormone in newborn boys with undescended testicles. The results suggest yet another potential harmful effect of BPA, which is widely used in many plastics, liners of food cans and dental sealants. | Read More » Vitamin D supplementation may delay precocious puberty in girls  | Vitamin D supplementation may help delay early onset of puberty in girls, a new clinical study finds. | Read More » Vitamin D deficiency may raise allergy and asthma risk in obese children, teens  | One reason why obese children and teenagers are more likely to have hard-to-control asthma and allergies may be vitamin D deficiency, a new study finds. | Read More » Drugs used to treat heart failure and high blood pressure may help decrease obesity  | A type of drug normally used to treat heart failure and high blood pressure helped prevent weight gain and other complications related to a high-fat diet in an animal study. | Read More » Whole body vibration therapy increases bone strength  | A treatment known as whole body vibration therapy significantly increases bone strength among adolescents with cerebral palsy, a new clinical trial from New Zealand shows. | Read More » Weight loss improves memory and alters brain activity in overweight women  | Memory improves in older, overweight women after they lose weight by dieting, and their brain activity actually changes in the regions of the brain that are important for memory tasks, a new study finds. | Read More » 'Gene signature' test diagnoses benign thyroid growths  | A new genetic test accurately and consistently diagnoses benign growths, or nodules, on the thyroid gland, according to a study from Chile. | Read More » Steroid hormone may be indicator of infant distress  | During labor and delivery, infants preferentially secrete a different stress hormone than their mothers do, according to a new clinical study. | Read More » Excessive salt consumption appears to be bad for your bones  | A high-salt diet raises a woman's risk of breaking a bone after menopause, no matter what her bone density is, according to a new study. | Read More » Too little sleep may trigger the 'munchies' by raising levels of an appetite-controlling molecule  | Insufficient sleep may contribute to weight gain and obesity by raising levels of a substance in the body that is a natural appetite stimulant, a new study finds. | Read More » Researchers unmask Janus-faced nature of mechanical forces with supercomputer  | The harder you pull, the quicker it goes. At least, that used to be the rule in mechanochemistry, a method that researchers apply to set chemical reactions in motion by means of mechanical forces. However, as chemists report in a new study, more force cannot in fact be translated one to one into a faster reaction. With complex molecular dynamic simulations on a supercomputer, they unmasked the Janus-faced nature of mechanochemistry. Up to a certain force, the reaction rate increases in proportion to the force. If this threshold is exceeded, greater mechanical forces speed up the reaction to a much lesser extent. | Read More » Medical marijuana not the answer for teens with chronic pain, doctors say  | Adolescents can have chronic pain, just like adults. As patients, their parents and physicians search for solutions, there is one increasingly available option they should avoid, researchers say: medical marijuana. | Read More » Testosterone improves verbal learning and memory in postmenopausal women  | Postmenopausal women had better improvement in verbal learning and memory after receiving treatment with testosterone gel, compared with women who received sham treatment with a placebo, a new study found. | Read More » Naturally occurring hormone induces egg maturation  | The naturally occurring hormone kisspeptin effectively induces egg maturation during infertility treatment, according to a clinical in vitro fertilization (IVF) study. | Read More » Testosterone therapy may help improve pain in men with low testosterone  | Testosterone therapy is associated with decreased pain perception in men with low testosterone levels related to opioid (narcotic) pain relievers (analgesics), a new study finds. | Read More » Mice in a 'Big Brother' setup develop social structures  | New research into mouse social behavior finds signs of leadership and reveals features of "autistic" mouse society. | Read More » Estrogen replacement therapy helps reduce anxiety in anorexia nervosa  | Estrogen replacement therapy is associated with a significant decrease in anxiety symptoms among girls with anorexia nervosa, a new clinical trial finds. | Read More » Adolescents' high-fat diet impairs memory and learning  | A high-fat diet in adolescence appears to have long-lasting effects on learning and memory during adulthood, a new study in mice finds. | Read More » Short-term antidepressant use, stress, high-fat diet linked to long-term weight gain  | Short-term use of antidepressants, combined with stress and a high-fat diet, is associated with long-term increases in body weight, a new animal study finds. | Read More » Insulin resistance linked to weaker bones  | Reduced effectiveness of the hormone insulin, or insulin resistance, is associated with weakened bones, a clinical study shows. | Read More » | |
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