200,000 year old human hair found in dung
Strands of hair from a human who lived 200,000 years ago have been found preserved inside fossilised hyena dung from South Africa
Telegraph UK
9:10AM BST 09 May 2009
Public Release: 11-May-2009
Archives of Internal Medicine
Acupuncture eases chronic low back pain in SPINE trial
Acupuncture is about as effective as other treatments at helping people feel less bothered by chronic low back pain and function better in their daily activities. So says the SPINE trial, the largest US randomized trial of acupuncture for back pain, with more than 600 Group Health patients. But simulated acupuncture, without penetrating the skin, produced as much benefit as needle acupuncture. And that raises questions about how the ancient practice actually works.
NIH/National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Contact: Rebecca Hughes
hughes.r@ghc.org
206-287-2055
Group Health Cooperative Center for Health Studies
Public Release: 11-May-2009
Smoking interferes with recovery from alcohol-related brain damage
Excessive drinking can damage the brain, especially the frontal and parietal cortices. Some of this damage is reversible with abstinence from alcohol. New findings show that chronic cigarette smoking is associated with poor recovery of brain blood flow during abstinence from long-term heavy drinking.
NIH/National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Veteran's Administration Medical Center
Contact: Anderson Mon, Ph.D.
anderson.mon@ucsf.edu
415-221-4810 x2453
Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research
Public Release: 11-May-2009
Cancer
29 percent of cancer studies report conflict of interest
Nearly one-third of cancer research published in high-impact journals disclosed a conflict of interest, according to a new study from researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Contact: Nicole Fawcett
nfawcett@umich.edu
734-764-2220
University of Michigan Health System
Public Release: 11-May-2009
Production and Operations Management Society Annual Conference
Study describes what companies should do to recover from a product recall
A study examining more than 500 toy recalls between 1988 and 2007 suggests ways that firms can minimize the business impact of a recall.
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
Contact: Abby Vogel
avogel@gatech.edu
404-385-3364
Georgia Institute of Technology Research News
Public Release: 11-May-2009
Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association
Walking often and far reduces risks in heart patients
Walking longer at a slower pace improved heart health much more effectively than standard cardiac rehabilitation of walking a shorter distance at a brisker pace in overweight patients with coronary heart disease. In this study, moderate-pace walking for 45-60 minutes on five to six days was considered high-calorie-burning exercise. Researchers said it's necessary to modify traditional rehabilitation because more heart patients are overweight.
National Institutes of Health, University of Vermont
Contact: Bridgette McNeill
bridgette.mcneill@heart.org
214-706-1135
American Heart Association
Public Release: 11-May-2009
Psychopharmacology
Research finds kava safe and effective
Researchers at the University of Queensland in Australia have found a traditional extract of kava, a medicinal plant from the South Pacific, to be safe and effective in reducing anxiety. To be published online this week in the Springer journal Psychopharmacology, the results of a world-first clinical trial which found that a water-soluble extract of kava was effective in treating anxiety and improving mood. The kava was prescribed in the form of tablets.
Contact: Joan Robinson
joan.robinson@springer.com
49-622-148-78130
Springer
Public Release: 11-May-2009
Diabetes Care
Research says older people need more sun
Researchers at the University of Warwick have found that spending more time in the sunshine could help older people to reduce their risk of developing heart disease and diabetes.
Contact: Peter Dunn
p.j.dunn@warwick.ac.uk
44-776-765-5860
University of Warwick
Earliest animal traces solve time-gap mystery
Rock patterns suggest animals were thriving 200 million years earlier than thought, bridging the gap between genetic and fossil evidence
17:07 11 May 2009
Public Release: 11-May-2009
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Brain's problem-solving function at work when we daydream
A new University of British Columbia study finds that our brains are much more active when we daydream than previously thought. The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, finds that activity in numerous brain regions increases when our minds wander. It also finds that brain areas associated with complex problem-solving -- previously thought to go dormant when we daydream -- are in fact highly active during these episodes.
Contact: Basil Waugh
basil.waugh@ubc.ca
604-822-2048
University of British Columbia
First analysis of swine flu spread supports pandemic plan
H1N1 swine flu is spreading fast enough to justify the preparations for a pandemic, say epidemiologists who've analysed its spread – though there is still uncertainty about its clinical severity
19:00 11 May 2009
Vitamin supplements may cut benefits of exercise
Supplements of antioxidants such as vitamins C and E are thought by many to help fight the ageing process, but they may make things worse
22:00 11 May 2009
18 and Under
The Marks of Childhood or the Marks of Abuse?
A medical specialty is created to help the young and defenseless.
* Comment Consults: The Doctor's Role in Protecting Children
By PERRI KLASS, M.D.
Tracking Cyberspies Through the Web Wilderness
Cyberforensics is a new genre of detective work that presents immense technical challenges.
By JOHN MARKOFF
Public Release: 12-May-2009
American Journal of Psychiatry
Participants in antidepressant drug trials are atypical patients, UT Southwestern researchers report
One reason antidepressant medication treatments do not work as well in real life as they do in clinical studies could be the limited type of study participants selected, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found.
NIH/National Institute of Mental Health, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Forest, GlaxoSmithKline, King Pharmaceuticals, Organon, Pfizer, Wyeth
Contact: Lakisha Ladson
lakisha.ladson@utsouthwestern.edu
214-648-3404
UT Southwestern Medical Center
Swiss find sweet way to test water purity
A common sweetener has provided a way to follow water from treatment plant out into the environment – with surprising results
14:09 12 May 2009
A Venus figurine from the Swabian Jura rewrites prehistory
AlphaGalileo
Prairie dogs issue warnings in glorious technicolour
Not only do the rodents' alarm calls tell others about the type and size of approaching predators, but they also seem to warn of the colour of an imminent threat
IN BRIEF:  10:05 13 May 2009
Many Swine Flu Cases Have No Fever
Infectious disease experts consider fever an important sign of influenza, so the swine flu could be harder to track.
By LAWRENCE K. ALTMAN
Public Release: 13-May-2009
Nature
Cold water ocean circulation doesn't work as expected
The familiar model of Atlantic ocean currents that shows a discrete "conveyor belt" of deep, cold water flowing southward from the Labrador Sea is probably all wet.
National Science Foundation
Contact: Monte Basgall
monte.basgall@duke.edu
919-681-8057
Duke University
Public Release: 13-May-2009
Environmental Science & Technology
UCSB scientists document fate of huge oil slicks from seeps at coal oil point
Twenty years ago, the oil tanker Exxon Valdez was exiting Alaska's Prince William Sound when it struck a reef in the middle of the night. What happened next is considered one of the nation's worst environmental disasters: 10.8 million gallons of crude oil spilled into the pristine Alaskan waters, eventually covering 11,000 square miles of ocean.
Contact: George Foulsham
george.foulsham@ia.ucsb.edu
805-893-3071
University of California - Santa Barbara
The science of voodoo: When mind attacks body
The placebo effect has an evil twin – the nocebo effect – which can make you think yourself ill, or even dead
COVER STORY:  18:00 13 May 2009
Chemist Shows How RNA Can Be the Starting Point for Life
An English chemist has found the chemical milieu from which the first forms of life are thought to have emerged on earth some 3.8 billion years ago.
* Visual Science: Reconstructing the Master Molecules of Life
By NICHOLAS WADE
Did you know?
For centuries experts have argued over how the giraffe got its long neck.
14 May 2009 15:52 UK
Public Release: 14-May-2009
Heart Rhythm Society's 30th Annual Scientific Sessions
Heating heart with catheter better than drugs for common heart rhythm disorder
Treating a common heart rhythm disorder by burning heart tissue with a catheter works dramatically better than drug treatments, a major international study has found. Results were so convincing the trial was halted early.
Contact: Jim Ritter
jritter@lumc.edu
708-216-2445
Loyola University Health System
Public Release: 14-May-2009
American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting
Ginger quells cancer patients' nausea from chemotherapy
People with cancer can reduce post-chemotherapy nausea by 40 percent by using ginger supplements, along with standard anti-vomiting drugs, before undergoing treatment, according to scientists at the University of Rochester Medical Center.
Contact: Leslie White
leslie_white@urmc.rochester.edu
585-273-1119
University of Rochester Medical Center
Public Release: 14-May-2009
Taiwan Open 2009
French software and Dutch national supercomputer Huygens establish a new world record in Go
At the Taiwan Open 2009, held in Taiwan from Feb. 10-13, the Dutch national supercomputer Huygens, which is located at SARA Computing and Networking Services in Amsterdam, defeated two human Go professionals in an official match.
Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research
Contact: Naomi Messing
messing@nwo.nl
31-070-344-0526
Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research
Public Release: 14-May-2009
Journal of Research in Personality
Achieving fame, wealth and beauty are psychological dead ends, study says
If you think having loads of money, fetching looks, or the admiration of many will improve your life -- think again. A new study by University of Rochester researchers demonstrates that progress on these fronts can actually make a person less happy.
NIH/National Institute of Mental Health
Contact: Susan Hagen
susan.hagen@rochester.edu
585-276-4061
University of Rochester
Public Release: 14-May-2009
Journal of Evolutionary Biology
Genital stimulation opens door for cryptic female choice in tsetse flies
Manipulation of male and/or female genitalia results in a suite of changes in female reproductive behavior in tsetse flies, carriers of African sleeping sickness.
International Atomic Energy Agency, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, University of Costa Rica
Contact: Beth King
kingb@si.edu
703-487-3770 x8216
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Public Release: 14-May-2009
45th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology
Immunotherapy effective against neuroblastoma in children
A phase III study has shown that adding an antibody-based therapy that harnesses the body's immune system resulted in a 20 percent increase in the number of children living disease-free for at least two years with neuroblastoma. Neuroblastoma, a hard-to-treat cancer arising from nervous system cells, is responsible for 15 percent of cancer-related deaths in children.
Contact: Steve Benowitz
sbenowitz@ucsd.edu
619-543-6163
University of California - San Diego
Public Release: 14-May-2009
Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare
Study finds virtual doctors visits satisfactory for both patients and clinicians
Someday, even doctor visits could be among the conveniences offered via the Internet. In a comparison of desktop videoconferencing to conventional face-to-face general medical evaluations, patients found virtual visits similar to face-to-face visits on most measures. This study suggests that both patients and physicians could benefit if virtual visits were used as an alternative method of accessing primary care services.
Center for the Innovation of Medicine and Innovative Technology, Massachusetts General Hospital
Contact: Jennifer Gundersen
jgundersen1@partners.org
617-724-6433
Massachusetts General Hospital
Public Release: 15-May-2009
Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association
Veterinarians at high risk for viral, bacterial infections from animals
The recent H1N1 influenza epidemic raises questions about how animal viruses move to human populations. While there is no evidence veterinarians had a direct role in the current H1N1 epidemic, a new report finds veterinarians at markedly increased risk of infection with viruses and bacteria that can infect both animals and humans
NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
Contact: Hannah Fletcher
hannah-fletcher@uiowa.edu
319-384-4277
University of Iowa
Public Release: 15-May-2009
Heart Rhythm Society's 30th Annual Scientific Sessions
Study makes first connection between heart disorder and Alzheimer's disease
Researchers at Intermountain Medical Center in Salt Lake City believe that they have made a breakthrough connection between atrial fibrillation, a common heart rhythm disorder, and Alzheimer's disease, the leading form of dementia among Americans. In a study presented Friday, May 15, at "Heart Rhythm 2009," the annual scientific sessions of the Heart Rhythm Society in Boston, researchers unveiled findings from the study of more than 37,000 patients that showed a strong relationship between atrial fibrillation and the development of Alzheimer's disease.
Intermountain Medical Center
Contact: Jess Gomez
jess.gomez@imail.org
801-507-7455
Intermountain Medical Center
Public Release: 15-May-2009
Advanced Materials
Researchers closer to the ultimate green 'fridge magnet'
Scientists are a step closer to making environmentally-friendly 'magnetic' refrigerators and air conditioning systems a reality, thanks to new research published today in Advanced Materials.
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
Contact: Danielle Reeves
danielle.reeves@imperial.ac.uk
44-207-594-2198
Imperial College London
Chernobyl fallout could drive evolution of 'space plants'
Soya grown in radioactive plots produced higher levels of proteins that help protect the plant – such work could help produce resistant plants for future space colonies
12:06 15 May 2009
Sardinian scientists believe they've traced the roots of the 'death-defying' sardonic grin to a plant commonly found on the Italian island
ANSA
German Fossil Found to Be Early Primate
Fossil remains of a 47-million-year-old animal have been determined to be an extremely early primate close to the emergence of the evolutionary branch leading to humans.
By JOHN NOBLE WILFORD
2 Studies Tie Disaster Risk to Urban Growth
A new U.N. report says that the level of vulnerability does not always mirror economic conditions.
* Post a Comment on Dot Earth
By ANDREW C. REVKIN
New e-readers will end black and white era
A full-colour version of electronic paper is to be demonstrated later this month, while bendy readers should appear next year
FEATURE:  11:23 17 May 2009
Public Release: 17-May-2009
Nature Genetics
Genes that influence start of menstruation identified for first time
Researchers from the Peninsula Medical School, along with collaborators from research institutions across Europe and the United States, have for the first time identified two genes that are involved in determining when girls begin menstruation.
Contact: Andrew Gould
andrew.gould@pms.ac.uk
44-139-268-6107
The Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry
Puberty gene sets our sexual clocks
Researchers have uncovered the first genetic evidence to explain differences in the length of women's fertile lives – but the genes also seem to have a wider role
18:00 17 May 2009
Public Release: 17-May-2009
American Thoracic Society International Conference
Early mobilization of patients in ICU improves outcomes
Aside from the obvious and immediate health problems that patients undergoing mechanical ventilation face, those who recover often do so with profound loss of strength and mobility that can impair their daily functioning and even lead to increased risk of morbidity and mortality down the line. Now research shows that functional status may be restored earlier to ICU patients by performing daily interruptions in sedation paired with mobilization and exercise, as led by physical and occupational therapists.
Contact: Keely Savoie
ksavoie@thoracic.org
212-315-8620
American Thoracic Society