Geography of violence: Violent injury among U.S. youth appears to be end result of web of factors

ScienceDaily (2010-02-23) -- Violent injury, the second leading cause of death among US youth, appears to be the end result of a web of factors including alcohol, weapons, and dangerous urban environments. Researchers in Pennsylvania are investigating how the nature and whereabouts of daily activities relate to the likelihood of violent injury among youth.

Dust in Earth system can affect oceans, carbon cycle, temperatures, and health

ScienceDaily (2010-02-23) -- Dust is a powerful thing. Not the stuff that we wipe off the coffee table on a regular basis, but the tiny particles floating around in the Earth's atmosphere, which originate primarily from deserts in North Africa and the Middle East. It can affect the oceans, impact the carbon cycle and even have an effect on global temperature.

Will coral reefs disappear?

ScienceDaily (2010-02-23) -- How vulnerable are coral reefs to climate change due to higher ocean temperatures?

New treatment to prevent cancer recurrence shows promise in study

ScienceDaily (2010-02-23) -- Glioblastoma is one of the most deadly human brain cancers. Radiation can temporarily shrink a tumor, but they nearly always recur within weeks or months and few patients survive longer than two years after diagnosis. Now scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine studying the tumor in mice have found a way to stop the cancer cells from growing back after radiation by blocking its access to oxygen and nutrients.

Children don't trust each other when learning the rules

ScienceDaily (2010-02-23) -- Children don't trust other children when it comes to learning a new game and will turn to adults for to learn the rules instead, according to a new psychology study.

Grizzly bears move into polar bear habitat in Manitoba, Canada

ScienceDaily (2010-02-23) -- Grizzly bears are moving into an area along the Hudson Bay that is traditionally inhabited by polar bears, and the sightings of grizzly bears are increasing in frequency.

Remember magnesium if you want to remember: Synthetic supplement improves memory and staves off age-related memory loss

ScienceDaily (2010-02-23) -- Researchers have found that a new synthetic magnesium compound works on both young and aging animals to enhance memory or prevent its impairment. Their study was carried out over a five-year period and has significant implications for the use of over-the-counter magnesium supplements.

World-class protection boosts Australia's Great Barrier Reef

ScienceDaily (2010-02-24) -- Australia's Great Barrier Reef is showing an extraordinary range of benefits from the network of protected marine reserves introduced there five years ago, according to a comprehensive new study published.

Overweight middle-aged adults at greater risk for cognitive decline in later life

ScienceDaily (2010-02-24) -- The adverse affects of being overweight are not limited to physical function but also extend to neurological function, according to new research.

Facts about sleep

http://www.abc.net.au/science/sleep/facts.htm

Diversity of corals, algae in warm Indian Ocean suggests resilience to future global warming

ScienceDaily (2010-02-22) -- Corals that harbor unusual species of symbiotic algae have been discovered thriving in water that is too warm for most other corals. The discovery gives hope that coral reefs and the ecosystems they support may persist -- at least in some places -- in the face of global warming.

Midday nap markedly boosts the brain's learning capacity

ScienceDaily (2010-02-22) -- If you see a student dozing in the library or a co-worker catching 40 winks in her cubicle, don't roll your eyes. New research shows that an hour's nap can dramatically boost and restore your brain power. Indeed, the findings suggest that a biphasic sleep schedule not only refreshes the mind, but can make you smarter.

Tiny tongue of a fruit fly could offer big clues in fight against obesity, researcher says

ScienceDaily (2010-02-22) -- The tiny tongue of a fruit fly could provide big answers to questions about human eating habits, possibly even leading to new ways to treat obesity, according to a new study.

Naps help babies learn and retain new information

ScienceDaily (2010-02-22) -- Psychologists have found that infants need adequate sleep, including regular naps, in order to effectively learn about the new world they live in.

Reading to kids a crucial tool in English language development

ScienceDaily (2010-02-22) -- Poring over the works of Dr. Seuss, the adventures of the Bernstain Bears or exploring the worlds of Hans Christian Andersen with a child has always been a great parent-child bonding exercise. But, according to new research it is instrumental for English-speaking children if they are to acquire the language skills, particularly comprehension, essential to their future reading ability.

New security threat against 'smart phone' users, researchers show

ScienceDaily (2010-02-22) -- Computer scientists have shown how a familiar type of personal computer security threat can now attack new generations of smart mobile phones, with the potential to cause more serious consequences. The researchers demonstrated how such a software attack could cause a smart phone to eavesdrop on a meeting, track its owner's travels, or rapidly drain its battery to render the phone useless.

High blood pressure a neglected disease, report declares

ScienceDaily (2010-02-22) -- Public health officials and health care providers need to step up their efforts to reduce Americans' increasing rates of high blood pressure and better treat those with the condition, which triggers more than one-third of heart attacks and almost half of heart failures in the United States each year, says a new report.

Link between marine algae and whale diversity over last 30 million years, study finds

ScienceDaily (2010-02-22) -- New research shows a strong link between the diversity of organisms at the bottom of the food chain and the diversity of mammals at the top. Throughout the last 30 million years, changes in the diversity of whale species living at any given time period correlates with the evolution and diversification of diatoms, tiny, abundant algae that live in the ocean.

Seeds from the Moringa tree can be used for water purification, study suggests

ScienceDaily (2010-02-21) -- Pure water is a key requirement for good health and alternative cheap, safe methods are required in many countries. Researchers have now described how extracts from seeds of the Moringa oleifera tree can be used for water purification.

Pan-frying meat with gas may be worse than electricity for raising cancer risk

ScienceDaily (2010-02-18) -- Frying meat on a gas burner may be more harmful to health than using an electric burner, because of the type of fumes it produces, suggests new research.

Ocean geoengineering scheme no easy fix for global warming

ScienceDaily (2010-02-18) -- Pumping nutrient-rich water up from the deep ocean to boost algal growth in sunlit surface waters and draw carbon dioxide down from the atmosphere has been touted as a way of ameliorating global warming. However, a new study points out the difficulties with such an approach.

Study debunks millennia-old claims of systematic infant sacrifice in ancient Carthage

ScienceDaily (2010-02-18) -- A new study may finally lay to rest the millennia-old conjecture that the ancient empire of Carthage regularly sacrificed its youngest citizens. An examination of the remains of Carthaginian children revealed that most infants perished prenatally or very shortly after birth and were unlikely to have lived long enough to be sacrificed.

Genomic map spanning over two dozen cancers charted

ScienceDaily (2010-02-18) -- Researchers have created a genome-scale map of 26 different cancers, revealing more than 100 genomic sites where DNA from tumors is either missing or abnormally duplicated compared to normal tissues. The study, the largest of its kind, finds that most of these genetic abnormalities are not unique to one form of cancer, but are shared across multiple cancers.

Cooling inflammation for healthier arteries

ScienceDaily (2010-02-19) -- Scientists have reported new reasons for choosing "heart healthy" oats at the grocery store.

Feeling blue? You'll shun the new

ScienceDaily (2010-02-10) -- A negative mood imparts a warm glow to the familiar. Happiness, on the other hand, makes novelty attractive (and can instead give the familiar a "blah" cast). This is the first time the effect has been experimentally demonstrated in humans.

Mass extinctions: 'Giant' fossils are revolutionizing current thinking

ScienceDaily (2010-02-11) -- Large-sized gastropods dating from only 1 million years after the greatest mass extinction of all time, the Permian-Triassic extinction, have been discovered by an international team of researchers. These specimens call into question the existence of a "Lilliput effect", the reduction in the size of organisms inhabiting postcrisis biota, normally spanning several million years.

Animals cope with climate change at the dinner table: Birds, foxes and small mammals adapt their diets to global warming

ScienceDaily (2010-02-11) -- New research measures the evolving body sizes of birds and animals in areas where climate change is most extreme. In higher latitudes, a pattern of birds getting smaller and mammals getting bigger has been identified. The change, researchers hypothesizes, is likely a strategy for survival.

Waking the dead: Scientists reconstruct nuclear genome of extinct human being

ScienceDaily (2010-02-10) -- For the first time, scientists have reconstructed the nuclear genome of an extinct human being. The innovative technique can help reconstruct human phenotypic traits of extinct cultures. It also allows for finding those contemporary populations most closely related to extinct cultures revealing ancient human expansions and migrations. Finally, the discovery improves our understanding of heredity and the disease risk passed down from our ancestors. The spectacular findings are being published in Nature.

Social networking sites could solve many communication problems when disaster strikes

ScienceDaily (2010-02-10) -- Online social networking sites could solve many problems plaguing information dissemination and communications when disaster strikes, according to a new report.

Battery-less radios developed

ScienceDaily (2010-02-10) -- Scientists report a 2.4GHz/915MHz wake-up receiver which consumes only 51µW power. This record low power achievement opens the door to battery-less or energy-harvesting based radios for a wide range of applications including long-range RFID and wireless sensor nodes for logistics, smart buildings, healthcare etc.

Childhood obesity: It's not the amount of TV, it's the number of junk food commercials

ScienceDaily (2010-02-10) -- The association between television viewing and childhood obesity is directly related to children's exposure to commercials that advertise unhealthy foods, according to a new study.

Climate 'tipping points' may arrive without warning, says top forecaster

ScienceDaily (2010-02-10) -- A new study by a top ecological forecaster says it is harder than experts thought to predict when sudden shifts in Earth's natural systems will occur -- a worrisome finding for scientists trying to identify the tipping points that could push climate change into an irreparable global disaster.

Low IQ among strongest predictors of cardiovascular disease -- second only to cigarette smoking in large population study

ScienceDaily (2010-02-10) -- While lower intelligence scores have been associated with a raised risk of cardiovascular disease, no study has so far compared the relative strength of this association with other established risk factors. Now, a large study has found that lower intelligence scores were associated with higher rates of cardiovascular disease and total mortality at a greater level of magnitude than found with any other risk factor except smoking.

Thirty-eight percent of world's surface in danger of desertification

ScienceDaily (2010-02-10) -- Researchers have measured the degradation of the planet's soil using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), a scientific methodology that analyses the environmental impact of human activities, and which now for the first time includes indicators on desertification. The results show that 38 percent of the world is made up of arid regions at risk of desertification.

Hackers at the movies

ScienceDaily (2010-02-08) -- Researchers in Ireland have analyzed 50 non-documentary movies from the last four decades featuring hackers and come to some intriguing conclusions about the hacker stereotype with implications for policy makers and education.

Month of birth determines who becomes a sports star

ScienceDaily (2010-02-08) -- The month of your birth influences your chances of becoming a professional sportsperson, an Australian researcher has found. Scientists studied the seasonal patterns of population health and found the month you were born in could influence your future health and fitness.

Soft drink consumption may markedly increase risk of pancreatic cancer

ScienceDaily (2010-02-09) -- Consuming two or more soft drinks per week increased the risk of developing pancreatic cancer by nearly twofold compared to individuals who did not consume soft drinks, according to a new study.

Leaves whisper their properties through ultrasound

ScienceDaily (2010-02-06) -- The water content of leaves, their thickness, their density and other properties can now be determined without even having to touch them. Researchers in Spain have presented an innovative technique that enables plant leaves to be studied using ultrasound in a quick, simple and noninvasive fashion.

Pay it forward: Elevation leads to altruistic behavior

ScienceDaily (2010-02-04) -- Seeing someone perform a virtuous deed (especially if they are helping another person), makes us feel good -- a positive, uplifting emotion, known as "elevation." New findings suggest that elevation may lead to helping behavior: participants who viewed an uplifting TV clip spent almost twice as long helping a research assistant than participants who saw a neutral TV clip or a comedy clip.

Baker's yeast: A promising, natural therapy for cancer?

ScienceDaily (2010-02-04) -- Researchers are investigating the potential use of nonpathogenic baker's yeast as a promising, natural therapy for cancer

Spherical cows help to dump metabolism law

ScienceDaily (2010-02-04) -- Apparently, the mysterious "3/4 law of metabolism" -- proposed by Max Kleiber in 1932, printed in biology textbooks for decades, and described as "extended to all life forms" from bacteria to whales -- is just plain wrong. "Actually, it's two-thirds," says University of Vermont mathematician Peter Dodds. A new paper of his helps overturn almost 80 years of near-mystical belief in a 3/4 exponent used to describe the relationship between the size of animals and their resting metabolism.

Water movements can shape fish evolution

ScienceDaily (2010-02-04) -- Researchers have found that the hydrodynamic environment of fish can shape their physical form and swimming style.

Magnesium supplement helps boost brainpower

ScienceDaily (2010-02-02) -- New research finds that an increase in brain magnesium improves learning and memory in young and old rats. The study suggests that increasing magnesium intake may be a valid strategy to enhance cognitive abilities and supports speculation that inadequate levels of magnesium impair cognitive function, leading to faster deterioration of memory in aging humans.

Memory failing? You may be at higher risk for stroke

ScienceDaily (2010-02-02) -- People who experience memory loss or a decline in their thinking abilities may be at higher risk of stroke, regardless of whether they have been diagnosed with dementia, according to a new study.

New adhesive device could let humans walk on walls

ScienceDaily (2010-02-02) -- Could humans one day walk on walls, like Spider-Man? A palm-sized invention that uses water surface tension as an adhesive bond just might make it possible.

Right-handed and left-handed people do not see the same bright side of things

ScienceDaily (2010-02-02) -- Despite the common association of "right" with life, correctness, positiveness and good things, and "left" with death, clumsiness, negativity and bad things, recent research shows that most left-handed people hold the opposite association. Thus, left-handers become an interesting case in which conceptual associations as a result of a sensory-motor experience, and conceptual associations that rely on linguistic and cultural norms, are contradictory.

His or hers jealousy? New explanation for sex differences in jealousy

ScienceDaily (2010-01-31) -- Research has documented that most men become much more jealous about sexual infidelity than they do about emotional infidelity. Women are the opposite, and this is true all over the world.

Barefoot running: How humans ran comfortably and safely before the invention of shoes

ScienceDaily (2010-02-01) -- Scientists have found that those who run barefoot, or in minimal footwear, tend to avoid "heel-striking," and instead land on the ball of the foot or the middle of the foot. In so doing, these runners use the architecture of the foot and leg and some clever Newtonian physics to avoid hurtful and potentially damaging impacts, equivalent to two to three times body weight, that shod heel-strikers repeatedly experience.