Public Release: 2-Dec-2007
Physical Review Letters Were the first stars dark?
Perhaps the first stars in the newborn universe did not shine, but
instead were invisible "dark stars" 400 to 200,000 times wider than the
sun and powered by the annihilation of mysterious dark matter, a
University of Utah study concludes.
National Science Foundation, US Department of Energy, University of
Michigan
Contact: Lee Siegel leesiegel@ucomm.utah.edu
801-581-8993 University of Utah Public Release: 2-Dec-2007
Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science Red alert: Wild strawberries may reduce
cancer risk
We've all seen the term "super food" used to describe those
nutrition-loaded edibles that promote health and discourage disease.
Powerhouse foods high in antioxidants and phytochemicals that block the
development of cancer cells have been touted as nature's way to fight
off the potentially devastating disease.
Contact: Michael W. Neff mwneff@ashs.org
703-836-4606 American Society for
Horticultural Science Public Release: 2-Dec-2007
Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science 'Smart' flower bulbs pull themselves to
deeper ground
Confused about the right planting depth for flower bulbs? Trust the
bulbs! Researchers have discovered that some flower bulbs are actually
'smart' enough to adjust themselves to the right planting depth.
Contact: Michael W. Neff mwneff@ashs.org
703-836-4606 American Society for
Horticultural Science Public Release: 3-Dec-2007
American Society for Cell Biology's 47th Annual Meeting Purified bacterial extract sprayed into
lungs ramps up innate immune system
A purified extract prepared from a common microbe and delivered to the
lungs of laboratory mice in a spray set off a healthy immune response
and provided powerful protection against all four major classes of
pathogens including those responsible for anthrax and bubonic plague,
according to a presentation at the American Society for Cell Biology's
47th Annual Meeting.
Contact: John Fleischman jfleischman@ascb.org
513-929-4635 American Society for Cell
Biology Public Release: 3-Dec-2007
American Society for Cell Biology's 47th Annual Meeting Tethered to chip, energy supply that
drives sperm could power 'nanobot'
The biological pathway that powers sperm to swim long distances could
be harnessed to nanotech devices, releasing drugs or performing
mechanical functions inside the body, according to a presentation at
the American Society for Cell Biology's 47th Annual meeting.
Contact: John Fleischman jfleischman@ascb.org
513-929-4635 American Society for Cell
Biology Public Release: 3-Dec-2007
Journal of American College of Cardiology Simple two-in-one test signals high
risk after a heart attack
Everyone loves a two-fer, but a two-in-one heart test that has the
potential to save lives is the real deal. According to new research,
pairing two findings from one simple test makes it significantly more
likely that doctors will identify patients who face the greatest risk
after a heart attack.
Contact: Amanda Jekowsky ajekowsk@acc.org
202-375-6645 American College of
Cardiology Public Release: 3-Dec-2007
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences A really inconvenient truth: Divorce is
not green
The data is in. Divorce is bad for the environment. A novel study that
links divorce with the environment shows a global trend of soaring
divorce rates has created more households with fewer people, has taken
up more space and has gobbled up more energy and water. The findings of
Jianguo "Jack" Liu and Eunice Yu at Michigan State University are
published in this week's Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences.
National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health
Contact: Jianguo "Jack" Liu jliu@panda.msu.edu
517-432-5025 Michigan State
University Public Release: 3-Dec-2007 Young chimps top adult humans in
numerical memory
Young chimpanzees have an "extraordinary" ability to remember numerals
that is superior to that of human adults, researchers report in the
Dec. 4 issue of Current Biology, a publication of Cell Press.
Ministry of Education, Culture,
Sports, Science and Technology, Japan
Society for the Promotion of Science -- Global Center of Excellence,
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science -- HOPE
Contact: Cathleen Genova cgenova@cell.com
617-397-2802 Cell Press Public Release: 3-Dec-2007
Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine Study suggests honey may help relieve
children's cough, improve sleep during colds
A single dose of buckwheat honey before bedtime provided the greatest
relief from cough and sleep difficulty compared with no treatment and
an over-the-counter cough medicine in children with upper respiratory
tract infections, according to a report in the December issue of
Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the
JAMA/Archives journals.
Contact: Megan Manlove
717-531-8604 JAMA and Archives
Journals Public Release: 3-Dec-2007
PNAS Early Edition Einstein researchers find that a
commonly found contaminant may harm nursing infants
Scientists at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva
University have shown that perchlorate -- an industrial pollutant
linked to thyroid ailments -- is actively concentrated in breast milk.
Their findings suggest that perchlorate contamination of drinking water
may pose a greater health risk than previously realized. The study
appears in the Dec. 3-7 advance online issue of the Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences.
National Institutes of Health
Contact: Karen Gardner kgardner@aecom.yu.edu
718-430-3101 Albert Einstein College
of Medicine Public Release: 3-Dec-2007
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Researchers discover possible markers
for mental illness
Researchers have discovered natural genetic differences that might help
predict the most effective antipsychotic drugs for particular patients
with mental disorders such as schizophrenia, Parkinson's and drug
addiction. They found the differences in the gene for a molecule called
the dopamine D2 receptor, a protein present on brain cells that are
sensitive to the neurotransmitter dopamine.
NIH/National Institute on Drug Abuse
Contact: Darrell E. Ward darrell.ward@osumc.edu
614-293-3737 Ohio State
University Public Release: 3-Dec-2007
Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation 'Mini transplant' patients' outcomes
similar using related and unrelated donor cells
People who undergo nonmyeloablative stem-cell transplants, or 'mini
transplants,' for leukemia, lymphoma and other blood cancers have
comparable outcomes regardless of whether they receive tissue-matched
stem cells from a related or unrelated donor, according to new findings
by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.
National Institutes of Health
Contact: Dean Forbes dforbes@fhcrc.org
206-667-2896 Fred Hutchinson Cancer
Research Center Public Release: 3-Dec-2007
Current Directions in Psychological Science Got sugar?
Glucose affects our ability to resist temptation
New research from a lab at Florida State University reveals that
self-control takes fuel -- literally, and it turns out to be one of the
same things that fuels our muscles: sugar, in the form of glucose.
Contact: Catherine West cwest@psychologicalscience.org
202-783-2077 Association
for Psychological Science Public Release: 3-Dec-2007
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Fossils excavated from Bahamian blue
hole may give clues of early life
Long before tourists arrived in the Bahamas, ancient visitors took up
residence in this archipelago off Florida's coast and left remains
offering stark evidence that the arrival of humans can permanently
change -- and eliminate -- life on what had been isolated islands, says
a University of Florida researcher.
Contact: David Steadman dws@flmnh.ufl.edu
352-392-1721 University of Florida Public Release: 3-Dec-2007 'Magma P.I.' unearths clues to how
crust was sculpted
Scientist says that Earth's magma delivery system fractured the
planet's crust to provide a sort of "template," guiding the sculpting
of valleys and mountain ranges.
National Science Foundation
Contact: Lisa DeNike LDE@jhu.edu
443-287-9960 Johns Hopkins University Public Release: 3-Dec-2007
American Society of Health Systems Pharmacists Meeting Best treatment identified to reduce
deadly Staph infections
One type of over-the-counter product for topical wound care is more
effective than others in killing methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus
aureus bacteria, or MRSA, which is potentially deadly and in recent
years has moved from its historic hospital setting to a much broader
public concern.
Tec Laboratories
Contact: David Bearden beardend@ohsu.edu
503-494-0116 Oregon State University Public Release: 3-Dec-2007
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Toll of climate change on world food
supply could be worse than thought
Global agriculture, already predicted to be stressed by climate change
in coming decades, could go into steep, unanticipated declines in some
regions due to complications that scientists have so far inadequately
considered, say three new scientific reports. The authors say that
progressive changes predicted to stem from 1- to 5-degree C temperature
rises in coming decades fail to account for seasonal extremes of heat,
drought or rain, multiplier effects of spreading diseases or weeds, and
other ecological upsets.
Contact: Kevin Krajick kkrajick@ei.columbia.edu
212-854-9729 The Earth
Institute at Columbia University Public Release: 3-Dec-2007 Radiation flashes may help crack cosmic
mystery
Faint, fleeting blue flashes of radiation emitted by particles that
travel faster than the speed of light through the atmosphere may help
scientists solve one of the oldest mysteries in astrophysics.
National Science Foundation
Contact: Steve Koppes skoppes@uchicago.edu
773-702-8366 University of
Chicago Quick
Fixes to Bring Back Damaged Voices
By AMANDA
SCHAFFER
Injections of
biodegradable gels to provide a quick,
but temporary, repair to the loss of voice from vocal chord paralysis
are gaining ground.
Since 1998, the federal
government has required that
almost all flour be fortified with the supplement but the levels are
below those recommended by some experts.
Sticky notes, mnemonics
and other tips for the forgetful.
Public Release: 4-Dec-2007
American Society for Cell Biology's 47th Annual Meeting Mitochondria defects linked to social
behavior and spatial memory
Respiration deficiencies in mitochondria, the cell’s
powerhouses, are
associated with changed social behavior and spatial memory in
laboratory mice, report scientists at the American Society for Cell
Biology 47th Annual Meeting.
Contact: John Fleischman jfleischman@ascb.org
513-929-4635 American Society for Cell
Biology Public Release: 4-Dec-2007
American Society for Cell Biology's 47th Annual Meeting New
hypothesis for origin of life proposed
Life may have begun in the protected spaces inside of layers of the
mineral mica, in ancient oceans, according to a new hypothesis.
Contact: Gail Gallessich gail.g@ia.ucsb.edu
805-893-7220 University of California -
Santa Barbara Public Release: 4-Dec-2007
JAMA Study
finds fitness level, not body fat, may be stronger predictor of
longevity for older adults
Adults over age 60 who had higher levels of cardiorespiratory fitness
lived longer than unfit adults, independent of their levels of body
fat, according to a study in the Dec. 5 issue of JAMA.
Contact: Karen Petit
803-777-1421 JAMA and Archives
Journals Public Release: 4-Dec-2007
JAMA Refuted
claims from observational studies often persistdespite strong evidence
against them
Prominent claims from observational studies of the cardiovascular
benefits of vitamin E often continue to be supported in medical
literature despite strong contradictory evidence from randomized
trials, according to a study in the Dec. 5 issue of JAMA. Similar
findings were found for claims regarding the protective effects of
beta-carotene on cancer and estrogen on Alzheimer disease.
Contact: John P. A. Ioannidis jioannid@cc.uoi.gr JAMA and Archives
Journals Public Release: 4-Dec-2007
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Neanderthal
bearing teeth
Tooth growth suggests rapid maturation in a Neanderthal child.
Contact: Tanya M. Smith tsmith@eva.mpg.de
49-341-355-0362 Max-Planck-Gesellschaft Public Release: 4-Dec-2007
PLoS ONE Can
fruit flies help treat stroke and transplant patients?
Reperfusion injury takes place when an animal or an organ is starved of
oxygen, then exposed to oxygen again. This occurs in strokes and organ
transplants and causes many deaths per year. Now scientists at UNLV,
Sable Systems International and UCSD have discovered that reperfusion
injury can be induced in fruit-flies, a convenient, cheap,
well-characterized model animal. The research paper describing their
results will be published in PLoS ONE.
Contact: John Lighton john.lighton@unlv.edu
702-269-4445 Public Library of Science Public Release: 4-Dec-2007
Journal of General Internal Medicine Patients
wonder, 'Could this be something serious?'
Nearly 4,800 patient surveys and 100 covertly recorded visits by actors
posing as patients revealed that empathy is lacking in many exam rooms
around the Rochester, N.Y., area -- however, doctors who do convey
empathy are viewed as more trustworthy.
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
Contact: Leslie Orr Leslie_Orr@urmc.rochester.edu
585-275-5774 University of
Rochester Medical Center Public Release: 4-Dec-2007 Computer
calls can talk couch potatoes into walking, Stanford study finds
Computer-generated phone calls may be an effective, low-cost way to
encourage sedentary adults to exercise, according to a recent study by
researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine.
Contact: Tracie White tracie.white@stanford.edu
650-723-7628 Stanford
University Medical Center
After
being stuck for about two weeks in a spot dubbed 'Tartarus' after a
mythological dungeon, Spirit heads for a safe winter haven
17:47 04 December 2007
Public Release: 5-Dec-2007 Cognitive
'fog' of normal aging linked to brain system disruption
Comparisons of the brains of young and old people have revealed that
normal aging may cause cognitive decline due to deterioration of the
connections among large-scale brain systems. The researchers linked the
deterioration to a decrease in the integrity of the brain's "white
matter," the tissue containing nerve cells that carry information. The
researchers found that the disruption occurred even in the absence of
pathology associated with Alzheimer's disease.
National Institutes of Health, Alzheimer's Association, Howard Hughes
Medical Institute
Contact: Cathleen Genova cgenova@cell.com
617-397-2802 Cell Press Public Release: 5-Dec-2007
Nature The
fine line between stability and instability -- when do gas giants reach
the point of no return?
Astronomers at UCL have identified the point at which a star causes the
atmosphere of an orbiting gas giant to become critically unstable.
Depending upon their proximity to a host star, giant Jupiter-like
planets have atmospheres which are either stable and thin, or unstable
and rapidly expanding. The research enables us to work out whether
planets in other systems are stable or unstable by using a 3-D model to
characterize their atmospheres.
Contact: Dave Weston d.weston@ucl.ac.uk
44-020-767-97678 University College London Public Release: 5-Dec-2007 SMART-1:
Travel maps of the lunar north pole
A new map obtained with SMART-1 data shows the geography and
illumination of the lunar north pole. Such maps will be of great use
for future lunar explorers.
Contact: Bernard Foing Bernard.Foing@esa.int
31-715-655-647 European Space Agency Public Release: 5-Dec-2007
Rejuvenation Research Herbal
extract found to increase lifespan
The herbal extract of a yellow-flowered mountain plant indigenous to
the Arctic regions of Europe and Asia increased the lifespan of fruit
fly populations, according to a UC-Irvine study.
Contact: Tom Vasich tmvasich@uci.edu
949-824-6455 University of California -
Irvine Public Release: 5-Dec-2007
Nature UBC
study may solve age-old mystery of missing chemicals from Earth's mantle
Observations about the early formation of Earth may answer an age-old
question about why the planet's mantle is missing some of the matter
that should be present, according to UBC geophysicist John Hernlund.
Contact: Lorraine Chan lorraine.chan@ubc.ca
604-822-3213 University of British Columbia Public Release: 5-Dec-2007 Early
voters hold most power in primaries, say Brown economists
As voters in Iowa and New Hampshire prepare to head to the polls for
the 2008 presidential primary season, new research by two Brown
University economists shows just how much power these early voters
hold. In a National Bureau of Economic Research working paper, Brian
Knight and Nathan Schiff demonstrate that early voters have up to 20
times the influence of voters in later states when it comes to
candidate selection.
Contact: Deborah Baum deborah_baum@brown.edu
401-863-2478 Brown
University Public Release: 5-Dec-2007
Child Abuse and Neglect Dads
break bones of children more often than moms
Dads break or fracture the bones of their children far more often than
moms, and they tend to inflict their abusive rage on infants younger
than 5 months old, according to a study in Child Abuse &
Neglect.
Contact: Greg Raver-Lampman Greg.Lampman@chkd.org
757-668-7554 Children's Hospital of The
King's Daughters Public Release: 5-Dec-2007 New
choices for patients: Transfusion-free medicine for Jehovah's Witnesses
and transfusion-wary
Transfusion-free Medicine for Jehovah's Witnesses and Patients Wary of
Blood Transfusions was pioneered at Pennsylvania Hospital Center for
Bloodless Medicine and Surgery in Philadelphia. Bloodless medicine
practices have shown outcomes that can benefit the entire patient
community, including shorter hospital stays, and the elimination of
transfusion-related complications. Pennsylvania Hospital is part of the
University of Pennsylvania Health System.
Contact: Lee-Ann Landis landisl@uphs.upenn.edu
215-829-8043 University of
Pennsylvania School of Medicine
Gas
giant planets can get twice as close to their stars as Mercury is to
the Sun without evaporating, a new study suggests
18:01 05 December 2007
Public Release: 6-Dec-2007
AACR's Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Meeting Chemoprevention,
naturally: Findings on plant-derived cancer medicines
The next cancer-fighting therapeutic could be growing in your garden,
according to research presented today, at the American Association for
Cancer Research's Sixth Annual International Conference on Frontiers in
Cancer Prevention Research, being held from Dec. 5 to 8 in
Philadelphia, Pa.
Contact: Greg Lester greg.lester@aacr.org
267-646-0554 American Association for
Cancer Research Public Release: 6-Dec-2007
Science Hinode
mission delves into solar mysteries
New, peer-reviewed results from the Hinode space mission ("Sunrise" in
English) should help explain some long-standing mysteries of the Sun,
such as the huge temperature difference between its relatively cool
surface and its white-hot atmosphere, and the origins of the solar wind
that blasts through the solar system and buffets planetary atmospheres.
These findings appear in a special collection of 10 articles, by
scientists in Japan, Europe and the United States, in the Dec. 7 issue
of the journal Science.
Contact: Natasha Pinol npinol@aaas.org
202-326-7088 American Association for
the Advancement of Science Public Release: 6-Dec-2007
Psychological Science Like
humans, monkey see, monkey plan, monkey do
How many times a day do you grab objects such as a pencil or a cup? We
perform these tasks without thinking, however the motor planning
necessary to grasp an object is quite complex. For example, waiters
will pick up an inverted glass with their thumb pointing down if they
plan to pour water into the glass. Is this something that other
animals, non-tool users, would do?
Contact: Catherine West cwest@psychologicalscience.org
202-783-2077 Association
for Psychological Science Public Release: 6-Dec-2007
Journal of Nuclear Medicine Patients
need to know that nuclear medicine procedures can trigger radiation
alarms
Twenty million nuclear medicine procedures that detect and evaluate
heart disease, brain disorders and cancer -- and that use
radiopharmaceuticals to treat overactive thyroids and some cancers --
are performed each year. While health care providers in many facilities
do provide patients with adequate information about nuclear medicine
procedures, there's room for improvement, says a study supported by the
Centers of Disease Control and Prevention and the Agency for Healthcare
Research and Quality that appears in the December Journal of Nuclear
Medicine.
Contact: Maryann Verrillo mverrillo@snm.org
703-652-6773 Society of Nuclear Medicine Public Release: 6-Dec-2007
2008 Joint Mathematics Meetings Free
software brings affordability, transparency to mathematics
A UW mathematician is on a mission to replace the costly software used
in education and research with a free, open-source version. More than
100 mathematicians around the world are helping to develop the tool.
National Science Foundation
Contact: Hannah Hickey hickeyh@u.washington.edu
206-543-2580 University of Washington Public Release: 6-Dec-2007
Archives of Women's Mental Health Miscarriage
myths persist despite prevalence of medical information
More than a third of women surveyed about their beliefs surrounding
miscarriage and birth defects said they thought that a pregnant woman's
foul mood could negatively affect her baby. One in four of these women
thought a pregnant woman's exposure to upsetting situations could hurt
her unborn child, and one in five believed excessive exercise could
cause a woman to miscarry.
Contact: Jonathan Schaffir Schaffir.1@osu.edu
614-293-9899 Ohio State
University
Two
small moons that lie within the planet's rings resemble UFOs, new
images reveal – their equatorial ridges may be swept-up ring
material
19:00 06 December 2007
Public Release: 7-Dec-2007
American Journal of Physical Anthropology Most
ancient case of tuberculosis found in 500,000-year-old human; points to
modern health issues
Although most scientists believe tuberculosis emerged only several
thousand years ago, new research from the University of Texas at Austin
reveals the most ancient evidence of the disease has been found in a
500,000-year-old human fossil from Turkey.
The discovery of the new specimen of the human species, Homo erectus,
suggests support for the theory that dark-skinned people who migrate
northward from low, tropical latitudes produce less vitamin D, which
can adversely affect the immune system as well as the skeleton.
Leakey Foundation, Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey
Contact: John Kappelman jkappelman@mail.utexas.edu
512-471-0055 University of Texas at
Austin Public Release: 7-Dec-2007
British Medical Journal Is
infant male circumcision an abuse of the rights of the child?
Circumcision is one of the most common surgical procedures performed on
males. Opponents argue that infant circumcision can cause both physical
and psychological harm, while recent evidence shows that circumcision
is medically beneficial. Two doctors debate the issue in this week's
BMJ.
Contact: Emma Dickinson edickinson@bmj.com
44-020-738-36529 BMJ-British Medical Journal
A
jet of matter spewing from a violent galaxy is twice as long as any
seen previously - if it were in our galaxy, it would stretch halfway to
Andromeda
Amazing find of dino 'mummy' Fossil hunters have uncovered the
remains of a dinosaur that has much of its soft tissue still intact.
Skin, muscle, tendons and other tissue that rarely survive
fossilisation have all been preserved in the specimen unearthed in
North Dakota, US.
Meteorite dates lunar volcanoes Volcanoes were active on the Moon's surface soon after it was formed, a new study in the journal Nature suggests.
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