28-Jul-2010
Ancient DNA identifies donkey ancestors, people who domesticated them
Genetic investigators say the partnership between people and the ancestors of today's donkeys was sealed not by monarchs trying to establish kingdoms, but by mobile, pastoral people who had to recruit animals to help them survive the harsh Saharan landscape in northern Africa more than 5,000 years ago.
Outsiders blamed for Easter Island’s historic demise
02 Aug 2010
An archaeologist studying a remote Pacific island, world famous for its strange stone statues, says outsiders - and not its ancestors - should be blamed for its historic demise hundreds of years ago.
2-Aug-2010
Cancer-causing bacterium targets tumor-suppressor protein
Researchers have discovered a mechanism by which Helicobacter pylori, the only known cancer-causing bacterium, disables a tumor suppressor protein in host cells.
2-Aug-2010
1 high-fat diet, 2 different outcomes: The path to obesity becomes clearer
Why is it that two people can consume the same high fat, high-calorie Western diet and one becomes obese and prone to diabetes while the other maintains a slim frame? A study provides a simple explanation: weight is set before birth in the developing brain.
2-Aug-2010
Brain may age faster in people whose hearts pump less blood
People whose hearts pumped less blood had brains that appeared older than the brains of those whose hearts pumped more blood. Decreased cardiac index, the amount of blood that pumps from the heart in relation to a person's body size, was associated with decreased brain volume using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
2-Aug-2010
Women attracted to men in red, research shows
Simply wearing the color red or being bordered by the rosy hue makes a man more attractive and sexually desirable to women, according to a series of studies by researchers at the University of Rochester and other institutions. And women are unaware of this arousing effect.
2-Aug-2010
New studies question vascular multiple sclerosis hypothesis and treatment
Concludes blood flow insufficiency not found to contribute to MS development
Radar Images Reveal Tons of Water Likely at the Lunar Poles
Two instruments are revealing there are likely massive amounts of water in the permanently shadowed craters at the poles, with over 600 million metric tons at the north pole alone.If that was turned into rocket fuel, it would be enough to launch the equivalent of one Space Shuttle per day for over 2,000 years
29 July 2010 Last updated at 19:09 ET
Mars site may hold 'buried life'
By Victoria Gill Science reporter, BBC News
Researchers have identified rocks that they say could contain the fossilised remains of life on early Mars.
 7 Hours Sleep Just Right
Sleeping more or fewer than seven hours a day can significantly increase the risk of developing cardiovascular disease.
Mon Aug 2, 2010 02:20 PM ET
Breeding Is Changing Dog Brains, Scientists Find
ScienceDaily (Aug. 2, 2010)
For the first time, scientists have shown that selective breeding of domestic dogs is not only dramatically changing the way animals look but is also driving major changes in the canine brain.
August 2, 2010
Relatives of Those with Autism Show Eye-Movement Deficits
Parents or siblings of people with autism are more likely to have some of the same visual-tracking problems that their affected relatives have
Sisters Protect Siblings from Depression, Study Shows
ScienceDaily (Aug. 2, 2010)
Something about having a sister -- even a little sister -- makes 10- to 14-year-olds a bit less likely to feel down in the dumps.
Selenium makes more efficient solar cells
Research reported in the journal Applied Physics Letters, published by the American Institute of Physics (AIP), describes how solar power could potentially be harvested by using oxide materials that contain the element selenium. The team found that even a relatively small amount of selenium, just 9 percent of the mostly zinc-oxide base, dramatically boosted the material's efficiency in absorbing light.
3-Aug-2010
New inexpensive solar cell design
One of the most promising technologies for making inexpensive but reasonably efficient solar photovoltaic cells just got much cheaper. Scientists at the University of Toronto in Canada have shown that inexpensive nickel can work just as well as gold for one of the critical electrical contacts that gather the electrical current produced by their colloidal quantum dot solar cells.
3-Aug-2010
Oral contraceptive use associated with increased risk of breast cancer
Investigators from the Slone Epidemiology Center at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have reported that African American women who use oral contraceptives have a greater likelihood of developing breast cancer than nonusers.
Personal Health
Be Sure Exercise Is All You Get at the Gym
By JANE E. BRODY
Published: August 2, 2010
Skin infections in athletes are extremely common” and account for more than half the outbreaks of infectious diseases that occur among participants in competitive sports.
Expectations May Affect Placebo Response in Patients With Parkinson's Disease
ScienceDaily (Aug. 3, 2010)
Individuals with Parkinson's disease were more likely to have a neurochemical response to a placebo medication if they were told they had higher odds of receiving an active drug
Alphavirus-Based Vaccine May Slow Some Cancers
ScienceDaily (Aug. 3, 2010)
An experimental vaccine based on a virus that causes encephalitis in the wild appears to block tumor growth in some cases of advanced cancer
Tracing Oil Reserves to Their Tiny Origins
By WILLIAM J. BROAD
Published: August 2, 2010
Today, a principal tenet of geology is that a vast majority of the world’s oil arose not from lumbering beasts on land but tiny organisms at sea.