To the surprise of many, the earthquake on April 18, 2008, about 120 miles east of St. Louis, originated in the Wabash Valley Fault, not the better-known and more-dreaded New Madrid Fault in Missouri's bootheel. The concern of seismologists is that the New Madrid Fault may have seen its day and the Wabash Fault is the new kid on the block. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 25 Apr 2008 | 6:00 pm
Scientists from Princeton University have found that one of the most intriguing phenomena in condensed-matter physics -- known as the quantum Hall effect -- can occur in nature in a way that no one has ever before seen. The 'quantum Hall-like effect' was found in a bulk material without an applied magnetic field. The work, while significant in a fundamental way, could also lead to advances in new kinds of fast quantum or "spintronic" computing devices, of potential use in future electronic technologies. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 25 Apr 2008 | 6:00 pm
East Africa's Lake Tanganyika has a highly diverse fauna which closely resembles marine animals. A researcher has traced the origins of the Lake's freshwater herring to a marine invasion which occurred in West Africa 25 to 50 million years ago. The ancient freshwater capture of marine organisms may help to explain the origins of other species unique to this Lake. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 25 Apr 2008 | 6:00 pm
Faulty male introspection may explain why men so often misinterpret women's indirect messages to stop or slow down the escalation of sexual intimacy, according to new research. "When she says 'It's getting late,' he may hear 'So let's skip the preliminaries,'" the researcher says. "The problem is that he is interpreting what she said by trying to imagine what he would mean -- and the only reason he can imagine saying 'It's getting late' while making out is to mean 'Let's speed things up.'" Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 25 Apr 2008 | 6:00 pm
By restoring two small molecules that are often lost in chronic lymphocytic leukemia, researchers were able to block tumor growth in an animal model. The study also uses human CLL cells to show that the two molecules, called miR-15a and miR-16-1, affect 70 genes, most of which are involved in cell growth, death, proliferation and metabolism. This reveals how the molecules normally protect against cancer and suggests a possible new CLL treatment strategy. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 25 Apr 2008 | 6:00 pm
Putting more meat on the theory that dinosaurs' closest living relatives are modern-day birds, molecular analysis of a shred of 68-million-year-old Tyrannosaurus rex protein -- along with that of 21 modern species -- confirms that dinosaurs share common ancestry with chickens, ostriches, and to a lesser extent, alligators. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 25 Apr 2008 | 3:00 pm
The risk of suffering depression increases 41 percent in smokers, in comparison with nonsmokers. This was the conclusion of a study undertaken with 8,556 participants. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 25 Apr 2008 | 3:00 pm
The hepatitis C therapy peginterferon alfa-2b, when given as low-dose maintenance therapy, can prevent disease progression in certain patients who failed previous interferon-based hepatitis C therapies and have advanced liver disease. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 25 Apr 2008 | 3:00 pm
Depending on which variant of a certain gene a woman has, a coffee consumption rate of at least two-three cups a day can either reduce the total risk of developing breast cancer or delay the onset of cancer, according to new research. The effect of coffee is related to estrogens, female sex hormones. Certain metabolic products of these hormones are known to be carcinogenic, and various components of coffee can alter the metabolism so that a woman acquires a better configuration of various estrogens. What's more, coffee contains caffeine, which also hampers the growth of cancer cells. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 25 Apr 2008 | 3:00 pm
Using a multidisciplinary mix of geometry, biological research and techniques developed to solve problems on supercomputers, scientists have shown for the first time how a genome is organized in three-dimensional space. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 25 Apr 2008 | 3:00 pm
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Scraps of protein from the bones of a 68 million-year-old dinosaur and a mastodon carcass confirm their places in the family tree of life on Earth, researchers reported on Thursday.
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Frustrated math students may have a good excuse -- some of the teaching methods meant to make math more relevant may in fact be making it harder to understand, U.S. researchers said on Thursday.
Global food shortages are a problem 'greater than climate change,' a panel of leading food industry and environmental experts has warned Source: guardian.co.uk Science | 25 Apr 2008 | 11:02 am
Sophisticated protein-sequencing techniques have been used to prove that modern birds are descended from dinosaurs Source: guardian.co.uk Science | 25 Apr 2008 | 10:32 am
Infection with the measles virus or human papilloma virus may exacerbate the effects of smoking Source: guardian.co.uk Science | 25 Apr 2008 | 10:14 am
Research has cast new doubt on the wisdom of using Sun-blocking sulphate particles to cool the planet. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 25 Apr 2008 | 10:04 am
An observatory for amateurs and professionals opens in an area recognised as England's darkest place. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 25 Apr 2008 | 7:18 am
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Images of colliding galaxies show them spinning, sliding and slipping into one another, wreaking stellar destruction that will give birth to new and larger galaxies.
The US Senate passes legislation forbidding discrimination against people because of genetic details. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 25 Apr 2008 | 3:34 am
Government plans to recycle summer sunshine collected by Britain's roads to keep them ice-free in winter Source: guardian.co.uk Science | 24 Apr 2008 | 11:06 pm
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Papayas have extra copies of genes that make them sweet and nutritious, researchers reported on Wednesday in a study that can help shed light on how flowering plants evolved.
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Rising obesity rates and a large percentage of children born with low birthweights are dragging down the overall health of American children in their first decade of life, according to a report tracking the health and well-being of young children in the United States.
LONDON (Reuters) - A new kind of drug designed to "hitch-hike" into cells reversed signs of Alzheimer's disease when injected into the brains of mice and may become a potent new treatment for humans, German scientists said on Thursday.
LONDON (Reuters) - A virus closely related to smallpox disguises itself as a piece of a broken cell to trick its way into cells, Swiss researchers said on Thursday in a discovery that could lead to better drugs and vaccines.
Ancient humans started down the path of evolving into two separate species before coming back, a study says. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 24 Apr 2008 | 5:32 pm
Levels of the greenhouse gas methane appear to be rising again after years of stability, data suggests. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 24 Apr 2008 | 2:47 pm
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Paying people a compliment appears to activate the same reward center in the brain as paying them cash, Japanese researchers said on Wednesday.
