13 December 2009
Genome reveals panda's carnivorous side
Bamboo-eater seemingly has no genes for cellulose-digesting enzymes.
Public Release: 14-Dec-2009
Current Biology
I think step to the left, you think step to the east
Even the way people remember dance moves depends on the culture they come from, according to a report in the Dec. 14 issue of Current Biology, a Cell Press publication. Whereas a German or other Westerner might think in terms of "step to the right, step to the left," a nomadic hunter-gatherer from Namibia might think something more like "step to the east, step to the west."
Contact: Cathleen Genova
cgenova@cell.com
617-397-2802
Cell Press
Octopuses use coconut shells as portable shelters
17:49 14 December 2009
Remarkable footage of veined octopuses collecting coconut halves for use when under threat could be the first example of tool use in invertebrates
Public Release: 14-Dec-2009
Archives of Internal Medicine
Regular coffee, decaf and tea all associated with reduced risk for diabetes
Individuals who drink more coffee (regular or decaffeinated) or tea appear to have a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes, according to an analysis of previous studies reported in the Dec. 14-28 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.
Contact: Rachel Huxley, D.Phil.
rhuxley@george.org.au
JAMA and Archives Journals
Public Release: 14-Dec-2009
Astrophysical Journal
New planet discoveries suggest low-mass planets are common around nearby stars
An international team of planet hunters has discovered as many as six low-mass planets around two nearby sun-like stars, including two "super-Earths" with masses 5 and 7.5 times the mass of Earth.
National Science Foundation, NASA
Contact: Tim Stephens
stephens@ucsc.edu
831-459-2495
University of California - Santa Cruz
Public Release: 14-Dec-2009
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Ancient DNA, not fossilized bones, shows late survival of Ice Age megafauna
University of Alberta researchers are part of an international team that has used DNA samples from frozen dirt, not fossilized bones, to revise the history of North America's woolly mammoths and ancient horses.
Contact: Brian Murphy
brian.murphy@ualberta.ca
780-492-6041
University of Alberta
Public Release: 14-Dec-2009
Proceedings of the National Academy of Science
Scientists isolate new antifreeze molecule in Alaska beetle
Scientists have identified a novel antifreeze molecule in a freeze-tolerant Alaska beetle able to survive temperatures below minus 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Unlike all previously described biological antifreezes that contain protein, this new molecule, called xylomannan, has little or no protein. It is composed of a sugar and a fatty acid and may exist in new places within the cells of organisms.
Contact: Marie Gilbert
megilbert@alaska.edu
907-474-7412
University of Alaska Fairbanks
Public Release: 14-Dec-2009
Journal of Consumer Research
Veiling in style: How does a stigmatized practice become fashionable?
Why are an increasing number of Turkish women wearing veils in a secular country where the practice is banned in public buildings? A new study in the Journal of Consumer Research says one factor is fashion.
Contact: Mary-Ann Twist
JCR@bus.wisc.edu
608-255-5582
University of Chicago Press Journals
Public Release: 14-Dec-2009
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Painkiller undermines aspirin's anti-clotting action
Millions of Americans take Celebrex for arthritis or other pain. Many, if they are middle-aged or older, also take a low-dose aspirin tablet daily to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke. Yet they may be getting little protection, because Celebrex keeps the aspirin from doing its job effectively, a new study suggests.
National Institutes of Health
Contact: Anne Rueter
arueter@umich.edu
734-764-2220
University of Michigan Health System
Public Release: 14-Dec-2009
Tobacco Control
New research backs FDA ban on flavored cigarettes
New research showing that thrill-seeking teenagers are especially susceptible to fruit-flavored cigarettes is in line with the recent ban on the sale of flavored cigarettes by the US Food and Drug Administration in September 2009. According to the FDA, the ban, authorized by the new Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, is part of a national effort by the FDA to reduce smoking, which is the leading preventable cause of death in America.
Substance Abuse Policy Research Program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Contact: Carol Lin Vieira
cvieira@burnesscommunications.com
401-714-0821
Burness Communications
Public Release: 14-Dec-2009
Chemistry & Biodiversity
Prussian blue linked to the origin of life
A team of researchers from the Astrobiology Centre has shown that hydrogen cyanide, urea and other substances considered essential to the formation of the most basic biological molecules can be obtained from the salt Prussian blue. In order to carry out this study, published in the journal Chemistry & Biodiversity, the scientists recreated the chemical conditions of the early Earth.
Contact: SINC
info@plataformasinc.es
34-914-251-820
FECYT - Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology
Public Release: 15-Dec-2009
JAMA
Researchers find high leptin levels may protect against Alzheimer's disease and dementia
Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine have found that higher leptin (a protein that controls weight and appetite) levels were associated with a lower incidence of Alzheimer's disease and dementia. The study, which appears in the Dec. 16 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, may open pathways for possible preventive and therapeutic interventions.
Contact: Gina M. DiGravio
gina.digravio@bmc.org
617-638-8480
Boston University Medical Center
Well
When Lowering the Odds of Cancer Isn’t Enough
By TARA PARKER-POPE
If someone invented a pill to cut a cancer risk in half, would you take it?
* Health Guide: Breast Cancer »
Public Release: 15-Dec-2009
Journal of Experimental Medicine
Septic shock: Nitric oxide beneficial after all
Scientists at VIB and Ghent University in Flanders, Belgium, have found an unexpected ally for the treatment of septic shock, the major cause of death in intensive care units. By inducing the release of nitric oxide gas in mice with septic shock, researchers Anje Cauwels and Peter Brouckaert discovered that the animal's organs showed much less damage, while their chances of survival increased significantly. That's contrary to all expectations.
University of Ghent
Contact: Joris Gansemans
joris.gansemans@vib.be
329-244-6611
VIB (the Flanders Institute for Biotechnology)
Cases
Exam-Room Rules: What’s in a Name?
By ANNE MARIE VALINOTI, M.D.
Choosing between first names or titles in a doctor-patient relationship sets the tone for all communication.
Public Release: 15-Dec-2009
Journal of Critical Care
First immunological clue to why some H1N1 patients get very ill or die
An international team of Canadian and Spanish scientists have found the first potential immunological clue of why some people develop severe pneumonia when infected by the pandemic H1N1 virus.
Contact: Alex Radkewycz
Alexandra.Radkewycz@uhn.on.ca
416-340-3895
University Health Network
Public Release: 16-Dec-2009
Science Translational Medicine
Researchers take the inside route to halt bleeding
Researchers led by Case Western Reserve University's Erin Lavik developed synthetic platelets from biodegradable polymers. In animal models, the synthetics attach to natural platelets and stem bleeding faster than current treatments.
Coulter Foundation, Richard and Gail Siegal, National Institutes of Health
Contact: Kevin Mayhood
kevin.mayhood@case.edu
216-368-4442
Case Western Reserve University
Public Release: 16-Dec-2009
Nature
Soap opera in the marsh: Coots foil nest invaders, reject impostors
The American coot is a drab, seemingly unremarkable marsh bird common throughout North America. But its reproductive life is full of deception and violence. According to biologists at UC Santa Cruz, coots have evolved a remarkable set of cognitive abilities to thwart other coots that lay eggs in their neighbors' nests.
National Science Foundation
Contact: Tim Stephens
stephens@ucsc.edu
831-459-2495
University of California - Santa Cruz
Public Release: 16-Dec-2009
British Medical Journal
Should flowers be banned in hospitals?
Does flower water harbor potentially deadly bacteria? Do bedside blooms compete with patients for oxygen? Do bouquets pose a health and safety risk around medical equipment?
Contact: Emma Dickinson
edickinson@bmj.com
44-020-738-36529
BMJ-British Medical Journal
Public Release: 16-Dec-2009
Astronomers find world with thick, inhospitable atmosphere and an icy heart
Astronomers have discovered the second super-Earth exoplanet for which they have determined the mass and radius, giving vital clues about its structure. It is also the first super-Earth where an atmosphere has been found. The exoplanet, orbiting a small star only 40 light-years away from us, opens up dramatic new perspectives in the quest for habitable worlds. The planet, GJ1214b, has a mass about six times that of Earth and its interior is likely to be mostly made of water ice.
Contact: Dr. Henri Boffin
hboffin@eso.org
49-893-200-6222
ESO
Best ever atlas of 'iron planet'
By Jonathan Amos Science correspondent, BBC News, San Francisco
The most complete and most detailed atlas of Mercury has been assembled.
16 December 2009
Public Release: 16-Dec-2009
Current Alzheimer's Research
Diet high in methionine could increase risk of Alzheimer's
Temple study suggests that a diet rich in methionine, an amino acid typically found in red meats, fish, beans, eggs, garlic, lentils, onions, yogurt and seeds, can possibly increase the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease
National Institute of Health, Alzheimer's Association
Contact: Preston M. Moretz
pmoretz@temple.edu
215-204-4380
Temple University
Public Release: 16-Dec-2009
Vision Research
Researchers discover new 'golden ratios' for female facial beauty
Beauty is not only in the eye of the beholder but also in the relationship of the eyes and mouth of the beholden. The distance between a woman's eyes and the distance between her eyes and her mouth are key factors in determining how attractive she is to others, according to new psychology research from the University of California, San Diego and the University of Toronto.
National Institutes of Health, American Psychological Association
Contact: Joyann Callender
joyann.callender@utoronto.ca
416-978-6974
University of Toronto
Public Release: 17-Dec-2009
Cancer Investigation
UR study reveals chemo's toxicity to brain, possible treatment
Researchers have developed a novel animal model showing that four commonly used chemotherapy drugs disrupt the birth of new brain cells, and that the condition could be partially reversed with the growth factor IGF-1.
US Department of Defense, NIH/National Cancer Institute
Contact: Leslie Orr and Leslie White
Leslie_Orr@urmc.rochester.edu
585-275-5774
University of Rochester Medical Center
Public Release: 17-Dec-2009
Psychological Science
Dyslexia defined: New Yale study 'uncouples' reading and IQ over time
Contrary to popular belief, some very smart, accomplished people cannot read well. This unexpected difficulty in reading in relation to intelligence, education and professional status is called dyslexia, and researchers at Yale School of Medicine and University of California Davis, have presented new data that explain how otherwise bright and intelligent people struggle to read.
NIH/National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Science Foundation, NIH/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
Contact: Karen N. Peart
karen.peart@yale.edu
203-432-1326
Yale University
Public Release: 17-Dec-2009
WHOI-operated ROV Jason images the discovery of the deepest explosive eruption on the sea floor
Oceanographers using the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) Jason discovered and recorded the first video and still images of a deep-sea volcano actively erupting molten lava on the seafloor.
National Science Foundation, NOAA
Contact: WHOI Media Relations
media@whoi.edu
508-289-3340
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Public Release: 18-Dec-2009
2009 AGU Fall Meeting
Astrophysical Journal Letters
Caltech scientists discover fog on Titan
Saturn's largest moon, Titan, looks to be the only place in the solar system -- aside from our home planet, Earth -- with copious quantities of liquid (largely, liquid methane and ethane) sitting on its surface. According to planetary astronomer Mike Brown of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Earth and Titan share yet another feature, which is inextricably linked with that surface liquid: common fog.
National Science Foundation
Contact: Kathy Svitil
ksvitil@caltech.edu
626-395-8022
California Institute of Technology
At a Mine’s Bottom, Hints of Dark Matter
By DENNIS OVERBYE
Physicists said they might have registered the first faint hints of a ghostly sea of subatomic particles known as dark matter long thought to permeate the cosmos.
* Times Topics: Dark Matter
Space sailing
Daring plan to float a boat on Saturn's moon Titan
Public Release: 18-Dec-2009
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report Recommendations and Reports
1 percent -- 1 in 110 -- CDC issues new autism prevalence report
The US Centers for Disease Control reports that autism affects 1 in every 110 American children, representing a 57 percent increase from 2002 to 2006, and 600 percent increase in two decades. Significant findings include a broader definition of ASDs does not account for the increase. While improved and earlier diagnosis accounts for some increase, it does not fully account for the increase. Autism Speaks calls for dramatically increased federal funding for research and services.
US Centers for Disease Control
Contact: Jane E. Rubinstein
jrubinstein@rubenstein.com
212-843-8287
Autism Speaks
Humans feasting on grains for at least 100,000 years
Grains might have been an important part of human diets much further back in our history than previous research has suggested.
By Katherine Harmon December 17, 2009
Public Release: 20-Dec-2009
Nature Geoscience
Global temperatures could rise more than expected, new study shows
The kinds of increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide taking place today could have a significantly larger effect on global temperatures than previously thought, according to a new study led by Yale University geologists. The team demonstrated that only a relatively small rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) was associated with a period of substantial warming in the mid- and early-Pliocene era, between 3 to 5 million years ago.
National Science Foundation, Yale Climate and Energy Institute
Contact: Suzanne Taylor Muzzin
suzanne.taylormuzzin@yale.edu
203-432-8555
Yale University