Young children show evidence of smart and flexible behavior early in life -- even though they don't really know what they're doing, new research suggests. In a series of experiments, scientists tested how well 4- and 5-year-olds were able to rely on different types of information to choose objects in a group. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 17 Jun 2008 | 3:00 pm
Regular coffee drinking (up to 6 cups per day) is not associated with increased deaths in either men or women. In fact, both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee consumption is associated with a somewhat smaller rate of death from heart disease. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 17 Jun 2008 | 3:00 pm
Resveratrol, a compound present in grapes and red wine, reduces the number of fat cells and may one day be used to treat or prevent obesity, according to a new study. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 17 Jun 2008 | 3:00 pm
Researchers have determined that medical use of cannabinoids do not cause an increase in serious adverse events, but are associated with an increase in some non-serious adverse events. Of all non-serious adverse events, dizziness was the most common. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 17 Jun 2008 | 3:00 pm
A new study that determines Samoa is indeed on the path of a geologic "hotspot" trail is adding fuel to a vigorous scientific debate over the origins of volcano chains -- especially in the Pacific Ocean. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 17 Jun 2008 | 3:00 pm
A protein related to heart disease and Alzheimer's is found to be a factor in HIV. The apolipoprotein (apo) E4 isoform has been implicated in neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease, cardiovascular disease, and stroke. Now, investigators have shown that this troubling protein is a risk factor for AIDS progression rates and promotes entry of HIV into cells. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 17 Jun 2008 | 3:00 pm
Clinical trials hoping to identify a vaginal microbicide that is safe and effective against HIV have all but skirted questions befitting evaluation of an approach intended primarily for sexually active women of childbearing age: What if a woman gets pregnant while using a product? Can exposure during pregnancy pose a risk to the fetus? Researchers will begin addressing these and other questions in the first clinical trial of a candidate vaginal microbicide in pregnant women. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 17 Jun 2008 | 12:00 pm
A new complete evolutionary 'family tree' showing how all British bird species are related to each other may provide clues about which ones are at risk of population decline. The greenfinch and the ptarmigan are at risk of becoming endangered, according to new research in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 17 Jun 2008 | 12:00 pm
A high-fat diet during pregnancy and nursing may lead to the child having an early onset of puberty and subsequent adulthood obesity, according to a new animal study. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 17 Jun 2008 | 12:00 pm
NASA researchers and scientists from the United States, Germany and Japan have found a new mineral in material that likely came from a comet. The mineral, a manganese silicide named Brownleeite, was discovered within an interplanetary dust particle, or IDP, that appears to have originated from comet 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup. The comet originally was discovered in 1902 and reappears every 5 years. Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 17 Jun 2008 | 12:00 pm
AP - A newly discovered batch of well-preserved dinosaur bones, petrified trees and even freshwater clams in southeastern Utah could provide new clues about life in the region some 150 million years ago. Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 17 Jun 2008 | 11:30 am
Katharine Locke had never exercised before she was diagnosed with breast cancer. After months of painful treatment she completed her first 5km challenge Source: guardian.co.uk Science | 17 Jun 2008 | 11:19 am
AP - At least 80 percent of the habitat for giant pandas in China's earthquake-hit province was destroyed or damaged, a forestry official said Tuesday.
AP - More severe weather was possible in the central Plains on Tuesday, with heavy rain and strong thunderstorms packing high winds and hail forecast across the region. The storms could continue flooding the already saturated Plains.
Mark Lynas's grim exploration of the implications of global warming has won Britain's most prestigious prize for science writing Source: guardian.co.uk Science | 17 Jun 2008 | 10:38 am
Reuters - Republican presidential candidate John
McCain will call on Tuesday for energy conservation and the
lifting of a ban on oil and natural gas exploration as two ways
to help address the nation's "dangerous" dependence on foreign
oil.
Animal welfare campaigners say Greenland's "subsistence" whalehunt is too commercially motivated. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 17 Jun 2008 | 9:10 am
For more discussion and analysis, download or subscribe to "Guardian Daily". The Guardian's news podcast is available for free first thing every weekday morning. For more information on all our podcasts click on www.guardian.co.uk/audio Source: guardian.co.uk Science | 17 Jun 2008 | 8:32 am
CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia's honey bees, crucial to worldwide food production, need more protection from foreign invaders that could potentially wipe out their population, a parliamentary report said on Tuesday.
AP - Scientists at the Smithsonian Institution's National Zoo have revealed they reversed a vasectomy on an endangered horse to allow it to reproduce naturally the first-known operation of its kind on an endangered species.
LONDON (Reuters) - Gay men and straight women share some characteristics in the area of the brain responsible for emotion, mood and anxiety, researchers said on Monday in a study highlighting the potential biological underpinning of sexuality.
AP - For most folks, a nice hug and some sympathy can help a bit after we get pushed around. Turns out, chimpanzees use hugs and kisses the same way. And it works. Researchers studying people's closest genetic relatives found that stress was reduced in chimps that were victims of aggression if a third chimp stepped in to offer consolation.
AP - Scientists at the Smithsonian Institution's National Zoo revealed Monday that they have reversed a vasectomy on an endangered horse to allow it to reproduce naturally the first-known operation of its kind on an endangered species.
SEOUL (Reuters) - Robert Bosch and Samsung SDI have signed a contract to form a hybrid electric vehicle battery joint venture to boost their presence in the next-generation energy business, Samsung said on Monday.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - European researchers said on Monday they discovered a batch of three "super-Earths" orbiting a nearby star, and two other solar systems with small planets as well.
The brains of gay people look like those found in straight people of the opposite sex, research suggests. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 16 Jun 2008 | 11:28 pm
Letters: Mark Lynas (Climate chaos is inevitable. We can only avert oblivion, June 12) is correct to highlight the dire lack of urgency Source: guardian.co.uk Science | 16 Jun 2008 | 11:03 pm
AP - European astronomers have found a trio of "super-Earths" closely circling a star that astronomers once figured had nothing orbiting it, demonstrating that planets keep popping up in unexpected places.
Some of the first farmers probably used green beads to protect themselves and their crops, a study suggests. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 16 Jun 2008 | 9:39 pm
Mark Lynas' book on global warming wins this year's Royal Society prize for popular science writing. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 16 Jun 2008 | 9:34 pm
Smoking cannabis while pregnant could harm the developing brain in the womb, researchers in Scotland claim. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 16 Jun 2008 | 9:07 pm
Reuters - Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick signed
a bill on Monday that will direct $1 billion of state funds
toward biotechnology over 10 years, aiming to fill a federal
funding shortfall caused by White House opposition to embryonic
stem cell research.
Conservative leader David Cameron insists he will not be diverted from his environmental agenda by the economic downturn. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 16 Jun 2008 | 4:45 pm
Astronomers identify a trio of so-called "super-Earths" - rocky worlds slightly larger than our planet. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 16 Jun 2008 | 4:07 pm
ALMATY (Reuters) - Kazakhstan's sole communications satellite, used by many of the country's television broadcasters, is out of control due to a computer glitch and is likely to be lost altogether, space officials said on Monday.
Japanese car maker Honda begins the first commercial production of a hydrogen fuel-cell powered vehicle. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 16 Jun 2008 | 2:15 pm
Dan Nocera on solar power and clean fuel. Leonard Mlodinow on how randomness rules our lives. Plus stink bombs, sharks, and the Methuselah tree. With Alok Jha, Ian Sample, and Nell Boase Source: guardian.co.uk Science | 16 Jun 2008 | 11:45 am
MIT chemistry professor Dan Nocera tells Guardian science correspondent Alok Jha why chemistry can solve the energy crisis Source: guardian.co.uk Science | 16 Jun 2008 | 11:19 am
AP - At least 80 percent of the habitat for giant pandas in China's earthquake-hit province was destroyed or damaged, a forestry official said Tuesday.
AP - More severe weather was possible in the central Plains on Tuesday, with heavy rain and strong thunderstorms packing high winds and hail forecast across the region. The storms could continue flooding the already saturated Plains.
Reuters - Republican presidential candidate John
McCain will call on Tuesday for energy conservation and the
lifting of a ban on oil and natural gas exploration as two ways
to help address the nation's "dangerous" dependence on foreign
oil.
AP - Scientists at the Smithsonian Institution's National Zoo have revealed they reversed a vasectomy on an endangered horse to allow it to reproduce naturally the first-known operation of its kind on an endangered species.
AP - For most folks, a nice hug and some sympathy can help a bit after we get pushed around. Turns out, chimpanzees use hugs and kisses the same way. And it works. Researchers studying people's closest genetic relatives found that stress was reduced in chimps that were victims of aggression if a third chimp stepped in to offer consolation.
AP - European astronomers have found a trio of "super-Earths" closely circling a star that astronomers once figured had nothing orbiting it, demonstrating that planets keep popping up in unexpected places.
Reuters - Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick signed
a bill on Monday that will direct $1 billion of state funds
toward biotechnology over 10 years, aiming to fill a federal
funding shortfall caused by White House opposition to embryonic
stem cell research.