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Bizarre-looking bat's strong bite
The wrinkle-faced bat's strangely shaped skull gives it a remarkably strong bite force, say scientists.
By Victoria Gill Science reporter, BBC News
21 August 2009 10:03 UK
Public Release: 23-Aug-2009
Nature Geoscience
Lightning's mirror image ... only much bigger
With a very lucky shot, scientists have captured a one-second image and the electrical fingerprint of huge lightning that flowed 40 miles upward from the top of a storm.
Contact: Cheryl Dybas
cdybas@nsf.gov
703-292-7734
National Science Foundation
Public Release: 24-Aug-2009
Cancer
Cancer patients who are separated when diagnosed have worse survival rates
Among unmarried cancer patients, those who are separated at the time of diagnosis do not live as long as widowed, divorced, and never married patients.
NIH/National Cancer Institute
Contact: David Sampson
david.sampson@cancer.org
American Cancer Society
Public Release: 24-Aug-2009
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Higher level of testosterone in women linked to choice of risky careers
Higher levels of testosterone are associated with a greater appetite for risk in women. The link between risk aversion and testosterone predicted career choice: individuals who were high in testosterone and low in risk aversion chose riskier careers in finance.
Templeton Foundation
Contact: William Harms
w-harms@uchicago.edu
773-702-8356
University of Chicago
Public Release: 24-Aug-2009
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Genomic study yields plausible cause of colony collapse disorder
Researchers report this week that they have found a surprising but reliable marker of colony collapse disorder, a baffling malady that in 2007-2008 killed off more than a third of commercial honey bees in the US. Their study, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is the first to identify a single, objective molecular marker of the disorder, and to propose a data-driven hypothesis to explain the mysterious disappearance of American honey bees.
US Department of Agriculture
Contact: Diana Yates
diya@illinois.edu
217-333-5802
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Public Release: 24-Aug-2009
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Wisconsin team grows retina cells from skin-derived stem cells
A team of scientists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health has successfully grown multiple types of retina cells from two types of stem cells -- suggesting a future in which damaged retinas could be repaired by cells grown from the patient's own skin.
National Institutes of Health, Foundation Fighting Blindness, Walsh Family Foundation, Lincy Foundation, Retina Research Foundation
Contact: Susan Lampert Smith
ssmith5@uwhealth.org
608-262-7335
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Public Release: 24-Aug-2009
Journal of the American Chemical Society
Lower-cost solar cells to be printed like newspaper, painted on rooftops
Solar cells could soon be produced more cheaply using nanoparticle "inks" that allow them to be printed like newspaper or painted onto the sides of buildings or rooftops to absorb electricity-producing sunlight.
National Science Foundation, Welch Foundation, Air Force Research Laboratory
Contact: Brian Korgel
Korgel@che.utexas.edu
512-471-5633
University of Texas at Austin
Disrupt emergency exits to boost evacuation rates
The rate that a crowd can exit a packed room through a narrow exit rises if an obstacle is placed in front of the door, physicists have found
17:49 24 August 2009
Public Release: 24-Aug-2009
Contemporary Accounting Research
Researchers find saying 'I'm sorry' influences jurors
Apologizing for negative outcomes -- a practice common even with children -- may lead to more favorable verdicts for auditors in court, according to researchers at George Mason University and Oklahoma State University. The results of the study will be available in a forthcoming issue of Contemporary Accounting Research, published by the Canadian Academic Accounting Association.
Contact: Jennifer Edgerly
jedgerly@gmu.edu
703-993-8699
George Mason University
Public Release: 24-Aug-2009
Clinical Immunology
UCLA scientists uncover immune system's role in bone loss
Got high cholesterol? You might want to consider a bone density test. A UCLA study sheds light on the link between high cholesterol and osteoporosis and identifies a new way that the body's immune cells play a role in bone loss. The findings could lead to new immune-based approaches for treating osteoporosis.
NIH/National Institute on Aging, NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH/National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute
Contact: Elaine Schmidt
eschmidt@mednet.ucla.edu
310-794-2272
University of California - Los Angeles
Stopwatch found for Solar System
Scientists have found a new way to time events in the early Solar System.
By Sudeep Chand Science reporter, BBC News
24 August 2009 16:14 UK
Broken hearts mend with 'patch'
A team of Israeli scientists has developed a potential way to fix the damage from heart attacks.
By Sudeep Chand Science reporter, BBC News
24 August 2009 21:24 UK
Really?
The Claim: Some Foods Can Ease Arthritis Pain
By ANAHAD O’CONNOR
Are there any foods that can soothe pain from arthritis?
A Virus’s Debut in a Doctor’s Syringe
By KENT SEPKOWITZ, M.D.
Ten years ago this week, New York found itself at the center of a major public health drama: a mysterious illness was attacking older men who liked to garden.
West Nile Virus »

Not Exactly Rocket Science
Holding heavy objects makes us see things as more important
August 25, 2009
Diving Deep for a Living Fossil
By WILLIAM J. BROAD
After a 33-year deep sea quest, an oceanographer is more hopeful than ever that he will capture one of the world’s oldest living fossils.

• Slide Show: The Hunt for a Living Fossil
• Graphic: Intricate Traces of an Elusive Creature

Public Release: 25-Aug-2009
Cancer Research
Long-term tamoxifen use increases risk of an aggressive, hard to treat type of second breast cancer
While long-term tamoxifen use among breast cancer survivors decreases their risk of developing the most common, less aggressive type of second breast cancer, such use is associated with a more than four-fold increased risk of a more aggressive, difficult-to-treat type of cancer in the breast opposite, or contralateral, to the initial tumor.
NIH/National Cancer Institute
Contact: Kristen Woodward
kwoodwar@fhcrc.org
206-667-5095
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Public Release: 25-Aug-2009
JAMA
Hormone therapy for prostate cancer patients with heart conditions linked to increased death risk
Men with coronary artery disease-induced congestive heart failure or heart attack who receive hormone therapy before or along with radiation therapy for treatment of prostate cancer have an associated increased risk of death, according to a study in the August 26 issue of JAMA.
Contact: Lori J. Shanks
ljshanks@partners.org
617-534-1604
JAMA and Archives Journals
Public Release: 25-Aug-2009
British Journal of Cancer
Unlocking the body's defenses against cancer
Scientists have discovered a way of allowing healthy cells to take charge of cancerous cells and stop them developing into tumors in what could provide a new approach to treating early-stage cancers.
Association for International Cancer Research, Humane Research Trust, Caring Cancer Research Trust, Kidscan, Cancer Prevention Research Trust
Contact: Aeron Haworth
aeron.haworth@manchester.ac.uk
44-161-275-8383
University of Manchester
Public Release: 25-Aug-2009
PLoS ONE
Ant has given up sex completely, report Texas researchers
The complete asexuality of a widespread fungus-gardening ant, the only ant species in the world known to have dispensed with males entirely, has been confirmed by a team of Texas and Brazilian researchers.
Contact: Christian Rabeling
rabeling@mail.utexas.edu
512-471-7619
University of Texas at Austin
Public Release: 25-Aug-2009
Social Cognition
New research examines how career dreams die
A new study shows just what it takes to convince a person that he isn't qualified to achieve the career of his dreams. Researchers found that it's not enough to tell people they don't have the skills or the grades to make their goal a reality. People will cling to their dreams until they're clearly shown not only why they're not qualified, but also what bad things can happen if they pursue their goals and fail.
NIH/National Institute of Mental Health
Contact: Patrick Carroll
Carroll.279@osu.edu
419-995-8235
Ohio State University
Magic ink offers full-colour printing in an instant
11:02 25 August 2009
An ink that produces colour in the same way as birds and insects could be used for super-fast full-colour printing
Public Release: 26-Aug-2009
Biology Letters
Scientists find evidence of iridescence in 40 million-year-old feather fossil
A team of paleontologists and ornithologists led by Yale University has discovered evidence of vivid iridescent colors in feather fossils more than 40 million-years-old. The finding signifies the first evidence of a preserved color-producing nanostructure in a fossilized feather.
National Science Foundation, National Geographic Society, Yale University
Contact: Suzanne Taylor Muzzin
suzanne.taylormuzzin@yale.edu
203-432-8555
Yale University
Public Release: 26-Aug-2009
Molecular Cancer Therapeutics
Small peptide found to stop lung cancer tumor growth in mice
In new animal research done by investigators at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, scientists have discovered a treatment effective in mice at blocking the growth and shrinking the size of lung cancer tumors, one of the leading causes of cancer death in the world.
Contact: Jessica Guenzel
jguenzel@wfubmc.edu
336-716-3487
Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center
Cheap IVF offers hope to childless millions
THIS WEEK:  18:00 26 August 2009
Doctors in Africa have found ways to slash the cost of IVF to a fraction of what it costs in the west, using stripped-down incubators and cheap generic drugs
Long-range Taser reignites safety debate
FEATURE:  18:00 26 August 2009
What do you get if you cross a shotgun with a stun gun? A whole new set of risks, say researchers
Genetic advance raises IVF hopes
Researchers have found a potential way to correct an inherited disorder affecting thousands of women.
Dot Earth
A New Mosquito Repellent?
Researchers report that a compound can block the ability of some insects to detect carbon dioxide, which is what draws mosquitoes to us.
By CORNELIA DEAN
Public Release: 26-Aug-2009
Atmospheric Environment
Tunnels concentrate air pollution by up to 1,000 times
A toxic cocktail of ultrafine particles is lurking inside road tunnels in concentration levels so high they have the potential to harm drivers and passengers, a new study has found.
Contact: Rachael Wilson
rachael.wilson@qut.edu.au
Queensland University of Technology
Public Release: 27-Aug-2009
'Fatostatin' is a turnoff for fat genes
A small molecule earlier found to have both anti-fat and anti-cancer abilities works as a literal turnoff for fat-making genes, according to a new report in the Aug. 28 issue of the journal Chemistry and Biology, a Cell Press journal.
Contact: Cathleen Genova
cgenova@cell.com
617-397-2802
Cell Press
New Culprit Seen in Ozone Depletion
By CORNELIA DEAN
Government scientists who study the depletion of Earth’s protective ozone layer are pointing to a previously unheralded suspect: nitrous oxide.
Public Release: 27-Aug-2009
PLoS Computational Biology
Milk drinking started around 7,500 years ago in central Europe
The ability to digest the milk sugar lactose first evolved in dairy farming communities in central Europe, not in more northern groups as was previously thought, finds a new study led by UCL scientists published in the journal PLoS Computational Biology. The genetic change that enabled early Europeans to drink milk without getting sick has been mapped to dairying farmers who lived 7,500 years ago between the central Balkans and central Europe.
Contact: Jenny Gimpel
j.gimpel@ucl.ac.uk
44-207-679-9726
University College London
Public Release: 27-Aug-2009
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Tiny ancient shells point to earliest fashion trend
Shell beads unearthed from four sites in Morocco confirm early humans were consistently wearing and even trading symbolic jewelery as early as 80,000 years ago. These beads add to similar finds dating back as far as 110,000 in Algeria, Morocco, Israel and South Africa, confirming these as the oldest form of personal ornaments. Together these shells -- all from the Nassarius genus -- indicate a shared tradition passed along through cultures over thousands of years.
European Science Foundation, Natural Environment Research Council, British Academy, Oxford University, Max Planck Society
Contact: Chloe Kembery
ckembery@esf.org
33-038-876-2158
European Science Foundation
Public Release: 27-Aug-2009
Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Researchers report gene associated with language, speech and reading disorders
A new candidate gene for Specific Language Impairment has been identified by a research team directed by Mabel Rice at the University of Kansas, in collaboration with Shelley Smith, University of Nebraska Medical Center, and Javier Gayán of Neocodex, Seville, Spain. The results point toward the likelihood of multiple genes contributing to language impairment, some of which also contribute to reading or speech impairment.
NIH/National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders
Contact: Karen Henry
kahenry@ku.edu
785-864-0756
University of Kansas
Public Release: 27-Aug-2009
Chemistry & Biology
The path to new antibiotics
Researchers at Burnham Institute for Medical Research, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and University of Maryland have demonstrated that an enzyme that is essential to many bacteria can be targeted to kill dangerous pathogens. In addition, investigators discovered chemical compounds that can inhibit this enzyme and suppress the growth of pathogenic bacteria. These findings are essential to develop new broad-spectrum antibacterial agents to overcome multidrug resistance.
NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
Contact: Josh Baxt
jbaxt@burnham.org
858-795-5236
Burnham Institute