Hard-working chips may reveal encryption keys

Vital Signs
Testing: Potassium Level Is a Clue to Eating Habits
By ERIC NAGOURNEY
Published: November 21, 2006
The day may come when skirting a doctor’s questions about your eating habits will no longer be an option. Researchers have found that a simple urine test can provide a good snapshot of how well people are really eating.
Really?
The Claim: Pricking a Stroke Victim’s Fingers Can Help Delay Symptoms
By ANAHAD O’CONNOR
Published: November 21, 2006
November 21, 2006
In Study, Distance Running Is Tied to Skin Cancer Risk
By NICHOLAS BAKALAR
Marathon runners may have an increased risk for skin cancer, a small study published Monday suggests, and excessive sun exposure and exercise-induced suppression of the body’s immune system may be involved.
Public Release: 20-Nov-2006
Annals of Internal Medicine
Novel program enhances dementia caregivers' quality of life
A personalized intervention significantly improved the quality of life for caregivers of people with dementia, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health and published in the November 21, 2006, Annals of Internal Medicine.
NIH/National Institute on Aging, NIH/National Institute of Nursing Research
Contact: Susan Farrer
nianews3@mail.nih.gov
301-496-1752
NIH/National Institute on Aging
Public Release: 20-Nov-2006
Current Biology
Social cues and illusion: There's more to magic than meets the eye
The mechanisms that govern visual perception are only partly understood by scientists, and in fact much of what we know about how the human visual system works stems from investigations into our susceptibility to visual illusions. While scientists have used knowledge of illusions to further our understanding of the mind, magicians have learned to master the art of deception for entertainment purposes.
Contact: Heidi Hardman
hhardman@cell.com
617-397-2879
Cell Press
Public Release: 20-Nov-2006
Current Biology
New moth variety disarms plants guarded by selenium
In new work, researchers report that the ability of plants to defend themselves by accumulating high levels of a toxic element can be overcome by some insects, and that such adaptation potentially echoes in the food web as other predators and parasites may in turn evolve to deal with high levels of the toxic element.
National Science Foundation
Contact: Heidi Hardman
hhardman@cell.com
617-397-2879
Cell Press
Public Release: 20-Nov-2006
Biological Psychiatry
Blame myelin for many neuropsychiatric disorders
Neurologist George Bartzokis argues that the brain's miles of myelin are a key evolutionary change that may make us vulnerable to highly prevalent neuropsychiatric disorders. He argues that viewing the brain as myelin-dependent may be key to developing new and novel treatments against disease.
NIH/National Institute of Mental Health, NIH/National Institute on Aging Alzheimer's Disease Center Grant, US Department of Veterans Affairs Research and Psychiatry Services, Sidell-Kagan Foundation
Contact: Mark Wheeler
mwheeler@mednet.ucla.edu
310-794-2265
University of California - Los Angeles
Public Release: 21-Nov-2006
Neuroscience
Proteins anchor memories in our brain
A University of Utah study suggests that memories are held in our brains because certain proteins serve as anchors, holding other proteins in place to strengthen synapses, which are connections between nerve cells.
National Science Foundation
Contact: Lee Siegel
leesiegel@ucomm.utah.edu
801-581-8993
University of Utah
Public Release: 21-Nov-2006
Ultra-intense laser blast creates true 'black metal'
"Black gold" is not just an expression anymore. Scientists at the University of Rochester have created a way to change the properties of almost any metal to render it, literally, black. The process, using an incredibly intense burst of laser light, holds the promise of making everything from fuel cells to a space telescope's detectors more efficient -- not to mention turning your car into the blackest black around.
Contact: Jonathan Sherwood
jonathan.sherwood@rochester.edu
585-273-4726
University of Rochester
Public Release: 22-Nov-2006
Neuron
Zinc plays important role in brain circuitry
To the multitude of substances that regulate neuronal signaling in the brain and spinal cord add a new key player: zinc. By engineering a mouse with a mutation affecting a neuronal zinc target, researchers have demonstrated a central role for zinc in modulating signaling among the neurons. Significantly, they found the mutant mouse shows the same exaggerated response to noise as children with the genetic disorder called "startle disease," or hyperekplexia.
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Bundesministerium fur Bildung und Forschung, Fonds der Chemischen Industrie
Contact: Heidi Hardman
hhardman@cell.com
617-397-2879
Cell Press
Public Release: 22-Nov-2006
Nature
21st century technology cracks alchemists' secret recipe
A 500-year old mystery surrounding the centerpiece of the alchemists' lab kit has been solved by UCL (University College London) and Cardiff University archaeologists.
Contact: Judith H Moore
judith.moore@ucl.ac.uk
44-020-767-97678
University College London
Public Release: 22-Nov-2006
Nature
Genetic variation: We're more different than we thought
New research shows that at least 10 percent of genes in the human population can vary in the number of copies of DNA sequences they contain -- a finding that alters current thinking that the DNA of any two humans is 99.9 percent similar in content and identity. This discovery of genetic variation is expected to change the way scientists think about genetic diseases and evolution.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Contact: Jennifer Donovan
donovanj@hhmi.org
301-215-8859
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Public Release: 22-Nov-2006
Allergy and Clinical Immunology
Pilot study successful in taming allergic reactions to food
Children who were allergic to eggs were able to essentially overcome their allergy by gradually consuming increased quantities of eggs over time, researchers at Duke University Medical Center and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences have found in a small pilot study.
National Institutes of Health, Duke, University of Arkansas
Contact: Lauren Shaftel
lauren.shaftel@duke.edu
919-684-4966
Duke University Medical Center
Public Release: 22-Nov-2006
American Journal of Gastroenterology
Suffering from chronic constipation?
New research has found that a new medication, tegaserod, is effective in treating nearly all symptoms associated with chronic constipation, a common disorder of the gastrointestinal tract that affects approximately 15 percent of the Western population at any one time. Tegaserod is currently the only drug aside from laxatives found to be effective at treating such a wide variety of symptoms. This research is published in the American Journal of Gastroenterology.
Contact: Sean Wagner
swagner@bos.blackwellpublishing.com
781-388-8550
Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Public Release: 22-Nov-2006
Journal of Sexual Medicine
Decreased genital sensation in competitive women cyclists
Women who participated in prolonged, frequent bicycling had decreased genital sensation and were more likely to have a history of genital pain than women runners, researchers in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences at Yale School of Medicine and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine report in the current issue of the Journal of Sexual Medicine.
Contact: Karen N. Peart
karen.peart@yale.edu
203-432-1326
Yale University
Public Release: 22-Nov-2006
Annals of Internal Medicine
The 'Freakonomics of food'
New research, in "Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think," shows that most holiday overeating, is due to the cues around us -- family and friends, packages and plates, shapes and smells, distractions and distances, cupboards and containers. Dubbed the "Freakonomics of food," the studies in "Mindless Eating" also show how we can reverse these cues to eat less and enjoy it more.
Contact: Sandra Cuellar
src6@cornell.edu
607-254-6302
Cornell Food & Brand Lab
Public Release: 23-Nov-2006
Science
Seismologists measure heat flow from Earth's molten core into the lower mantle
For the first time, scientists have directly measured the amount of heat flowing from the molten metal of Earth's core into a region at the base of the mantle, a process that helps drive both the movement of tectonic plates at the surface and the geodynamo in the core that generates Earth's magnetic field.
National Science Foundation
Contact: Tim Stephens
stephens@ucsc.edu
831-459-2495
University of California - Santa Cruz

How damaged eggs are weeded out
Scientists have identified a protein that helps detect DNA damage in developing eggs.
Did Biros really revolutionise writing?
Fifty-seven Bic Biros are sold every second (and then "borrowed" by passing colleagues) - not bad for a 60-year-old product. But did the pens really make that much of a difference?
Wheat's lost gene helps nutrition
Wild wheat contains a more functional variety of the key gene
Turning on a gene found in wheat could boost levels of protein, iron and zinc, scientists have discovered.

Stasi used radioactive spray to track dissidents
By Robert Uhlig, Technology Correspondent
Last Updated: 3:56pm BST 19/06/2001
EAST German intelligence agents traced the movements of dissidents and monitored their meetings by spraying them with radioactive chemicals, it is disclosed today.
Peruvian archaeologists excavate first 'tumi' knives from pre-Inca tombs
The Associated Press
Published: November 21, 2006
Essay
When Young Doctors Strut Too Much of Their Stuff
By ERIN N. MARCUS, M.D.
It seems that more and more medical students and young doctors show up for clinical work in less-than-professional attire.
Findings
Nematodes With a Craving for Nicotine
By HENRY FOUNTAIN
The roundworm even gets withdrawal symptoms when it goes cold turkey.
A Free-for-All on Science and Religion
By GEORGE JOHNSON
Some scientists at a recent conference called on their colleagues to be less timid in challenging teachings about nature based only on scripture and belief.
'Nymph Of The Sea' Reveals Remarkable Brood
Geologists from the United Kingdom and the United States have made an unusual discovery from over 425 million years ago ... hard boiled eggs! The scientists discovered the mother complete with her brood of some 20 eggs and 2 possible juveniles inside, together with other details of her soft part ...