Watery niche may foster life on Mars
THIS WEEK:  11:03 07 December 2009
Vast banks of snow and ice on Mars could harbour liquid water just centimetres below the surface, making them potential habitats for life
When two baboon troops go to war
By Matt Walker Editor, Earth News
Two troops of baboons have been filmed going to war, with hundreds of monkeys entering into a pitched battle.
Public Release: 7-Dec-2009
51st ASH Annual Meeting
Improving the odds
Clinical trials of a method for restoring the immune systems of bone marrow recipients from mismatched donors show promise.
Contact: Yivsam Azgad
news@weizmann.ac.il
972-893-43856
Weizmann Institute of Science
Public Release: 7-Dec-2009
British Journal of Urology International
Controversial kidney transplant technique could provide lifeline for very ill patients
Surgeons have developed a controversial technique that could offer a vital lifeline to patients with end-stage renal disease, as well as increasing the supply of viable organs. They have successfully performed kidney transplants after removing small cancerous and benign masses from the donated organs. Patient follow-ups are very promising, say the US team.
Contact: Annette Whibley
wizard.media@virgin.net
Wiley-Blackwell
Public Release: 7-Dec-2009
Cancer Cell
Delivering medicine directly into a tumor
Researchers at Burnham Institute for Medical Research at University of California, Santa Barbara have identified a peptide (a chain of amino acids) that specifically recognizes and penetrates cancerous tumors but not normal tissues. The peptide was also shown to deliver diagnostic particles and medicines into the tumor.Contact: Josh Baxt
jbaxt@burnham.org
858-795-5236
Burnham Institute
Public Release: 7-Dec-2009
Behavioral Neuroscience
Caffeine doesn't reverse the negative cognitive impact of alcohol, study shows
People who drink may want to know that coffee won't sober them up, according to new laboratory research. Instead, a cup of coffee may make it harder for people to realize they're drunk.
Contact: Public Affairs Office
public.affairs@apa.org
202-336-5700
American Psychological Association
Eat protein to heal a damaged brain
20:00 07 December 2009
A diet of chicken, fish and protein shakes might be just the thing for people with brain injuries, suggests a study in mice
Public Release: 7-Dec-2009
Journal for Geophysical Research -- Atmospheres
Lightning-produced radiation a potential health concern for air travelers
New information about lightning-emitted X-rays, gamma rays and high-energy electrons during thunderstorms is prompting scientists to raise concerns about the potential for airline passengers and crews to be exposed to harmful levels of radiation.
Contact: Martin Uman
uman@ece.ufl.edu
352-392-4038
University of Florida
Nasa tests for life on Mars clues
Scientists from space agency Nasa are testing a mineral only found in one corner of Scotland to see if it can provide clues about life on Mars.
8 December 2009
Dinosaur-killing impact set Earth to broil, not burn
19:49 07 December 2009
An asteroid impact 65 million years ago did not trigger global wildfires after all, new work suggests, leaving open the question of what killed off most of the world's species
Public Release: 7-Dec-2009
PLoS ONE
UCLA researchers demonstrate that stem cells can be engineered to kill HIV
Researchers from the UCLA AIDS Institute and colleagues have for the first time demonstrated that human blood stem cells can be engineered into cells that can target and kill HIV-infected cells -- a process that potentially could be used against a range of chronic viral diseases. The study provides proof-of-principle -- that is, a demonstration of feasibility -- that human stem cells can be engineered into the equivalent of a genetic vaccine.
California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, UCLA Center for AIDS Research
Contact: Enrique Rivero
erivero@mednet.ucla.edu
310-794-2273
University of California - Los Angeles
Public Release: 8-Dec-2009
AACR Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Meeting
Hops compound may prevent prostate cancer
The natural compound xanthohumol blocks the effects of the male hormone testosterone, therefore aiding in the prevention of prostate cancer.
Contact: Tara Yates
tara.yates@aacr.org
267-646-0558
American Association for Cancer Research
Public Release: 8-Dec-2009
AACR Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Meeting
Pistachios may reduce lung cancer risk
A diet that incorporates a daily dose of pistachios may help reduce the risk of lung and other cancers, according to data presented at the American Association for Cancer Research Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Conference, held Dec. 6-9.
Contact: Tara Yates
tara.yates@aacr.org
267-646-0558
American Association for Cancer Research
Public Release: 8-Dec-2009
Pain
Researchers finds hidden sensory system in the skin
Researchers report that the human body has an entirely unique and separate sensory system aside from the nerves that give most of us the ability to touch and feel. Surprisingly, this sensory network is located throughout our blood vessels and sweat glands, and is for most people, largely imperceptible. This discovery may shed light on the causes of unexplained chronic pain conditions such as fibromyalgia. Contact: Alex Brownstein
alexb@intidyn.com
866-610-7581 x104
Integrated Tissue Dynamics (INTIDYN)
Global Health
18 and Under
Hard Questions to Ask After a Cry for Help
By PERRI KLASS, M.D.
Markers for depression may help identify adults at risk for suicide, but they are not a reliable way to screen adolescents.
* Health Guide: Depression »
Testosterone link to aggression 'all in the mind'
Giving women more of the male hormone testosterone can turn them into fairer and more amiable game players, according to tests.
Ancient Pacific islanders brought to light
AlphaGalileo
Personal Health
Shedding Light on a Tremor Disorder
By JANE E. BRODY
The mysteries of uncontrollable shaking, without an underlying cause, are being explored by doctors.
* Health Guide: Essential Tremor »
* Comment Q&A: Essential Tremor
Public Release: 8-Dec-2009
Earth and Planetary Science Letters
Life on Mars theory boosted by new methane study
Scientists have ruled out the possibility that methane is delivered to Mars by meteorites, raising fresh hopes that the gas might be generated by life on the red planet, in research published tomorrow in Earth and Planetary Science Letters.
Contact: Colin Smith
cd.sm,ith@imperial.ac.uk
020-759-46712
Imperial College London
This decade 'warmest on record'
The first decade of this century is "by far" the warmest since instrumental records began, latest assessments show
Public Release: 9-Dec-2009
Endangered Species Research
The pitch of blue whale songs is declining around the world, scientists discover
Researchers' theory: An increase in population size may mean sounds used in mate competition need not travel as far as before; acoustic information extracted from songs could be useful population monitoring tool
US Navy, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Science Foundation
Contact: Mario Aguilera
scrippsnews@ucsd.edu
858-534-3624
University of California - San Diego
Ancient Med flood mystery solved
Research reveals details of a catastrophic flood that refilled the Mediterranean Sea more than five million years ago.
Public Release: 9-Dec-2009
First known binary star is discovered to be a triplet, quadruplet, quintuplet, sextuplet system
Alcor and Mizar, were the first binary stars -- a pair of stars that orbit each other -- ever known. Now, an astronomer at the University of Rochester and his colleagues have made the surprise discovery that Alcor is also actually two stars, and is apparently gravitationally bound to the Mizar system, making the whole group a sextuplet.
Contact: Jonathan Sherwood
jonathan.sherwood@rochester.edu
585-273-4726
University of Rochester
Public Release: 10-Dec-2009
Science
Tiny molecule slows progression of Lou Gehrig's disease in mice
A substance released by muscles in response to nerve injury can reduce symptoms and prolong life in a mouse model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found. The finding has already prompted development of possible drugs to treat the disease.
National Institutes of Health, Donald W. Reynolds Center for Clinical Cardiovascular Research, Leducq Foundation, Welch Foundation
Contact: Aline McKenzie
aline.mckenzie@sbcglobal.net
214-648-3404
UT Southwestern Medical Center
Observatory
Bones Show Early Divergence of Dinosaur Lineage
By HENRY FOUNTAIN
The fossils of a theropod from 215 million years ago, unearthed in New Mexico, support the idea that the major types of dinosaurs evolved early on.

Mars methane 'not from meteors'
The methane found on Mars is not brought to the planet by meteor strikes, scientists say.
9 December 2009
Public Release: 10-Dec-2009
Cell
The battle of the sexes
Scientists at EMBL and the MRC discovered that if a specific gene located on a non-sex chromosome is turned off, cells in the ovaries of adult female mice turn into cells typically found in testes. Their study, published in Cell, challenges the long-held assumption that the development of female traits is a default pathway and grants a valuable insight into how sex determination evolved.
Contact: Sonia Furtado
sonia.furtado@embl.de
European Molecular Biology Laboratory
Public Release: 10-Dec-2009
Science
Earth's atmosphere came from outer space, find scientists
The gases which formed the Earth's atmosphere -- and probably its oceans -- did not come from inside the Earth but from outer space, according to a study by University of Manchester and University of Houston scientists.
NERC
Contact: Alex Waddington
alex.waddington@manchester.ac.uk
01-612-758-387
University of Manchester
Ancient Amazon civilisation laid bare by felled forest
THIS WEEK:  12:31 10 December 2009
Some 260 giant avenues, ditches and enclosures have been spotted from the air in a region straddling Brazil's border with Bolivia
Public Release: 10-Dec-2009
Science
Genetic ancestry highly correlated with ethnic and linguistic groups in Asia
In paper titled "Mapping Human Genetic Diversity in Asia," published online in Science, over 90 scientists from the Human Genome Organization's Pan-Asian SNP Consortium report that their study conducted within and between different populations in Asia continent showed that genetic ancestry was highly correlated with ethnic and linguistic groups.
Contact: Winnie Serah Lim
limcp2@gis.a-star.edu.sg
656-478-8013
Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore
Clever folds in a globe give new perspectives on Earth
13:57 10 December 2009
A new technique for translating the surface of the globe into flat maps provides many different ways to look at the world
Public Release: 10-Dec-2009
American Journal of Human Genetics
Amount of gene surplus determines severity of mental retardation in males
Researchers have discovered a new explanation for differences in the severity of mental illness in males. The more excess copies of a certain gene, the more serious the handicap. The genetic defect is situated on the X-chromosome; and it is suspected that it is the amount of copies of the GDI1 gene that is responsible.
Institute for the Promotion of Innovation by Science and Technology in Flanders, Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, Fundación Ramon Areces, CIBERER
Contact: Joris Gansemans
joris.gansemans@vib.be
329-244-6611
VIB (the Flanders Institute for Biotechnology)
Public Release: 10-Dec-2009
PLoS ONE
Study reveals H1N1 unexpected weakness
The H1N1 influenza virus has been keeping a secret that may be the key to defeating it and other flu viruses as well. Researchers at Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine have found what they believe is a weakness in H1N1's method for evading detection by the immune system.
National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, Welch Foundation, John S. Dunn Gulf Coast Consortium for Chemical Genomics, Rice Faculty Initiatives Fund
Contact: David Ruth
druth@rice.edu
713-348-6327
Rice University
Public Release: 10-Dec-2009
Nature Biotechnology
UCLA researchers engineer bacteria to turn carbon dioxide into liquid fuel
Global climate change has prompted efforts to drastically reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas produced by burning fossil fuels. In a new approach, researchers from the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science have genetically modified a cyanobacterium to consume carbon dioxide and produce a liquid fuel precursor to isobutanol, which holds great potential as a gasoline alternative. The reaction is powered directly by energy from sunlight, or photosynthesis.
Contact: Matthew Chin
mchin@support.ucla.edu
310-206-0680
University of California - Los Angeles
DNA's guardian gene found in placozoans
16:10 11 December 2009
Tiny amoeba-like animals have the same key protective gene as humans, shedding light on when it evolved
Public Release: 11-Dec-2009
Molecular Cell
Scientists identify natural anti-cancer defenses
Canadian researchers have discovered a novel molecular mechanism that prevents cancer. In the Dec. 11 edition of the prestigious journal Molecular Cell, scientists from the University of Montreal and the University of Sherbrooke explain how they found that the SOCS1 molecule prevents the cancer-causing activity of cytokines, hormones that are culprits in cancer-prone chronic inflammation diseases such as Crohn's, in smokers and people exposed to asbestos.
Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Fonds de la recherche en Santé du Québec
Contact: Sylvain-Jacques Desjardins
sylvain-jacques.desjardins@umontreal.ca
514-343-7593
University of Montreal
Public Release: 11-Dec-2009
2009 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium
Anti-estrogens may offer protection against lung cancer mortality
Anti-estrogen therapy significantly decreased the risk of lung cancer death. Results support the role of estrogens in lung cancer management.
Contact: Jeremy Moore
jeremy.moore@aacr.org
267-646-0557
American Association for Cancer Research