Why Musicians Make Us Weep And Computers Don't

Music can soothe the savage breast much better if played by musicians rather than clever computers, according to a new study. Neuroscientists looked at the brain's response to piano sonatas played either by a computer or a musician and found that, while the computerized music elicited an emotional response -- particularly to unexpected chord changes - it was not as strong as listening to the same piece played by a professional pianist.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 10 Jul 2008 | 6:00 pm

Some Drugs Increase Risk Of Falling

Researchers have created a list of prescription drugs that increase the risk of falling for patients aged 65 and older who take four or more medications on a regular basis.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 10 Jul 2008 | 6:00 pm

Coffee Grounds Perk Up Compost Pile With Nitrogen

Coffee grounds can be an excellent addition to a compost pile. The grounds are relatively rich in nitrogen, providing bacteria the energy they need to turn organic matter into compost. About 2 percent nitrogen by volume, used coffee grounds can be a safe substitute for nitrogen-rich manure in the compost pile.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 10 Jul 2008 | 6:00 pm

Popular Fish, Tilapia, Contains Potentially Dangerous Fatty Acid Combination

Farm-raised tilapia, one of the most highly consumed fish in America, has very low levels of beneficial omega-3 fatty acids and, perhaps worse, very high levels of omega-6 fatty acids, according to new research. The researchers say the combination could be a potentially dangerous food source for some patients with heart disease, arthritis, asthma and other allergic and auto-immune diseases that are particularly vulnerable to an "exaggerated inflammatory response."
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 10 Jul 2008 | 6:00 pm

Early Warning System For Earthquakes: Seismic 'Stress Meter' Warned Of Earthquake 10 Hours In Advance

Although measurement techniques surrounding earthquakes have improved enormously over the last few decades, it has remained very difficult to measure changes in the crust that could enable earthquake prediction. Now, scientists have measured interesting changes in the speed of seismic waves that preceded two small earthquakes by 10 and 2 hours. These measurements are an encouraging sign that hold promise for the field of earthquake prediction.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 10 Jul 2008 | 6:00 pm

New Drug Reverses Alzheimer's Disease Within Days In Mouse Models

Scientists report a remarkable improvement in Alzheimer's transgenic mice following treatment with a new drug. The study provides the first demonstration that an ionophore, a compound that transports metal ions across cell membranes, can elicit rapid and pronounced improvement in neuropathology and cognitive function in mouse models of Alzheimer's Disease.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 10 Jul 2008 | 6:00 pm

Hurricane Bertha weakens again in Atlantic

MIAMI (Reuters) - Hurricane Bertha weakened back into a Category 1 storm on Thursday as it churned its way toward the British colony of Bermuda, U.S. hurricane forecasters said.


Source: Reuters: Science News | 10 Jul 2008 | 3:18 pm

Bug-Eyed Flatfish Evolution Revealed

Two flatfish fossils found in museum drawers help answer an evolutionary puzzle.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 10 Jul 2008 | 3:13 pm

Hurricane Bertha weakens to Category 1 storm (AP)

Satellite image provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows Hurricane Bertha. The US National Hurricane Center said that Hurricane Bertha is posing a possible threat to Bermuda.(AFP/NOAA/FIle/null)AP - Forecasters say Hurricane Bertha has weakened to a Category 1 storm as it heads toward Bermuda, but could restrengthen in the next 24 hours.



Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 10 Jul 2008 | 3:01 pm

Size Of A Woman's Uterus Can Predict Whether She Is At Risk Of Having Very Premature Twins After IVF

Using ultrasound to measure the height of a woman's uterus is a good way to predict whether or not she is at risk of having babies born prematurely if she becomes pregnant with twins after IVF, according to new research presented at the 24th annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology in Barcelona.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 10 Jul 2008 | 3:00 pm

Slowing Aging Is Way To Fight Diseases In 21st Century

A group of aging experts report that the best strategy for preventing and fighting a multitude of diseases is to focus on slowing the biological processes of aging.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 10 Jul 2008 | 3:00 pm

Coping With ‘Chemo Brain’

While Maria Lyzen was being treated for breast cancer, she found she couldn't concentrate or decipher information, and just functioning day-to-day at home was difficult. "I didn't know if it was a reaction to the trauma of being told that I had breast cancer. I was in my late 50's -- was it the beginning of an aging symptom? Or was it the drugs that I was getting in terms of my chemotherapy? My doctor ordered a brain scan, and there was nothing unusual there, and I said, 'But there is something wrong with me,'" Lyzen says.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 10 Jul 2008 | 3:00 pm

Flatfish Fossils Fill In Evolutionary Missing Link

Hidden away in museums for more that 100 years, some recently rediscovered flatfish fossils have filled a puzzling gap in the story of evolution and answered a question that initially stumped even Charles Darwin. Opponents of evolution have insisted that adult flatfishes, which have both eyes on one side of the head, could not have evolved gradually. A slightly asymmetrical skull offers no advantage. No such fish -- fossil or living -- had ever been discovered, until now.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 10 Jul 2008 | 3:00 pm

Chile Llaima volcano revs up, evacuations considered

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Chile's Llaima volcano, one of the most active in South America, spewed pyroclastic rock 1,300 feet into night skies early on Thursday, spooking residents a week after lava shot down one of its sides.


Source: Reuters: Science News | 10 Jul 2008 | 2:57 pm

Embryo research debate delayed

The government today risked accusations of running scared of the Glasgow East byelection after it called off a controversial vote on embryology research
Source: guardian.co.uk Science | 10 Jul 2008 | 2:50 pm

Calif. Pol Says Gas Prizes Could Help Fuel Lottery

A California state senator hopes to pump up the lottery's coffers by expanding prize offerings to include free gas.
Source: Livescience.com | 10 Jul 2008 | 2:49 pm

Realities of One-Night Stands Revealed (LiveScience.com)

LiveScience.com - When it comes to one-night stands, men and women are poles apart. Guys just want, well, you know, while gals go to bed with the false impression of flattery and a craving for feeling desirable.
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 10 Jul 2008 | 2:46 pm

Fashion Bug: Teens Turn Dead Cicadas Into Jewelry

Two 17-year-old jewelry makers from Cape Cod, Massachusetts are hoping swarms of customers will want their latest creations: earrings and necklaces made from dead bugs.
Source: Livescience.com | 10 Jul 2008 | 2:42 pm

Toyota to build Prius hybrid in US (AFP)

An employee of Japan's auto giant Toyota Motor displays the prototype model of the plug-in hybrid vehicle AFP - Japanese auto giant Toyota said Thursday that it plans to start assembling its fuel-sipping Prius hybrid car in the United States with production slated to begin in late 2010.



Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 10 Jul 2008 | 2:32 pm

At Antarctic Peninsula, Fast Change

Dramatic shifts in the food web are happening on the Antarctic Peninsula.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 10 Jul 2008 | 2:29 pm

South Australia drought worsens

A long-running drought in Australia's main food-growing region, the Murray-Darling river basin, has significantly worsened.
Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 10 Jul 2008 | 2:02 pm

Music that brings a tear to the eye

Stephen Moss has his doubts about the thrust of a new piece of psychological research into piano sonatas
Source: guardian.co.uk Science | 10 Jul 2008 | 1:36 pm

Birds Struggle to Tweet Over Traffic Din

Birds are shifting the frequencies of their songs to compete with urban noise.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 10 Jul 2008 | 1:22 pm

Realities of One-Night Stands Revealed

Women seek one-night stands even though they feel crappy the morning after.
Source: Livescience.com | 10 Jul 2008 | 12:27 pm

Spacewalkers to Investigate Russian Craft's Malfunction (SPACE.com)

SPACE.com - Two Russian cosmonauts will inspect and remove an explosive bolt from the Russian Soyuz spacecraft during a Thursday spacewalk outside the International Space Station.
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 10 Jul 2008 | 10:45 am

Spacewalkers to Investigate Russian Craft's Malfunction

Spacewalkers will inspect and remove an explosive bolt on the Russian Soyuz spacecraft.
Source: Livescience.com | 10 Jul 2008 | 10:45 am

The Roar of the Aurora

Could aliens be tuning into the most powerful radio transmitter on Earth?
Source: Livescience.com | 10 Jul 2008 | 10:42 am

How NASA Might Find Rock-Eating Microbes on Mars

A study offers a new way to detect biological molecules in martian rock.
Source: Livescience.com | 10 Jul 2008 | 10:41 am

Telegraph science veteran Roger Highfield appointed editor of New Scientist

Daily Telegraph science editor Roger Highfield, the first man to bounce a neutron off a soap bubble, has been appointed editor of New Scientist. By Stephen Brook
Source: guardian.co.uk Science | 10 Jul 2008 | 9:52 am

Is it a monsoon?

The papers are using the 'M' word - but are they right?
Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 10 Jul 2008 | 9:42 am

DNA in JonBenet case left behind in skin cells (AP)

Patsy Ramsey looks down as her husband John (R) produces a picture of JonBenet Ramsey during a press conference in Atlanta, May 5, 2000. REUTERS/Tami ChappellAP - Crime scene DNA is typically recovered from blood or semen stains, but the DNA that exonerated members of JonBenet Ramsey's family came from invisible skin cells.



Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 10 Jul 2008 | 8:29 am

Feds: Grazing doesn't fit Ore. national monument (AP)

AP - Federal rangeland managers said continuing to allow cattle to graze on the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument is harming the rare plants, fish and wildlife the monument was created eight years ago to protect.
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 10 Jul 2008 | 8:25 am

Radio-carbon tests reveal true age of Rome's she-wolf - and she's a relative youngster

Symbol of Roman glory revealed to date from Middle Ages, 1,800 years later than believed
Source: guardian.co.uk Science | 10 Jul 2008 | 8:18 am

Bobbie Johnson on solving the largest security flaw on the internet

Bobbie Johnson explains the security flaw in web browsers that has now been fixed
Source: guardian.co.uk Science | 10 Jul 2008 | 7:56 am

Discovery may lead to quake early-warning system

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Scientists working at California's San Andreas Fault have detected subtle geological changes occurring hours before an earthquake that could enable them to develop an early-warning system aimed at saving lives.


Source: Reuters: Science News | 10 Jul 2008 | 7:07 am

Sellafield 'dirty for a century'

It will take over 100 years and could cost £73bn before the toxic nuclear site at Sellafield is safe.
Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 10 Jul 2008 | 6:04 am

Bronx Zoo cable car passengers safe after repairs (AP)

Night falls as passengers wait in a sightseeing cable car which became stuck above the Bronx Zoo in New York on Wednesday, July 9, 2008. Firefighters say as many as 40 people were stranded aloft, but they don't know how many cable cars got stuck. (AP Photo/Ed Ou)AP - Dozens of Bronx Zoo sightseers were rescued unharmed after being stuck in cable cars 100 feet above zoo animals for five hours, authorities said.



Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 10 Jul 2008 | 5:57 am

Paranormal Investigators: Hellboy vs. Isaac Asimov

Hellboy is a special agent in the ultra-classified Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense.
Source: Livescience.com | 10 Jul 2008 | 4:04 am

'New CJD type' discovered in US

A new form of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) may have been uncovered in a handful of patients in the US.
Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 10 Jul 2008 | 12:07 am

The new coffee

Could biofuel crops bring new wealth to Kenya's farmers?
Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 9 Jul 2008 | 11:30 pm

Water on the moon: lunar secret revealed

New techniques used on rocks collected in Apollo missions in 1970s produce surprsing results
Source: guardian.co.uk Science | 9 Jul 2008 | 11:09 pm

Lower fertility in men linked to obesity

Men wanting to start a family should lose weight, according to doctors behind new study
Source: guardian.co.uk Science | 9 Jul 2008 | 11:09 pm

Old idea of using bioplastics gets a new lease of life

Lee Bruno: Researchers are following Henry Ford's footsteps by developing food-based plastics as oil prices rise
Source: guardian.co.uk Science | 9 Jul 2008 | 11:08 pm

Can Snakes Smell Anything?

Most snakes have an excellent sense of smell, in part to make up for their poor eyesight and limited hearing.
Source: Livescience.com | 9 Jul 2008 | 9:29 pm

Salmonella Illnesses Now Top 1,000

Health officials add hot peppers and cilantro as suspect foods, along with tomatoes
Source: Livescience.com | 9 Jul 2008 | 9:11 pm

Expedition to Survey Sunken U-Boats Off North Carolina

Scientists will study the wrecks of three German submarines sunk by U.S. forces in 1942.
Source: Livescience.com | 9 Jul 2008 | 7:23 pm

House Cat Adopts Panda Cub

A zookeeper's house cat has taken in a baby red panda and is nursing the cub.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 9 Jul 2008 | 6:31 pm

New scans show evidence of water on the moon

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Tiny green and orange glass balls brought back from the moon nearly 40 years ago by astronauts show evidence that water existed there from the very beginning, scientists reported on Wednesday.


Source: Reuters: Science News | 9 Jul 2008 | 6:07 pm

Fish fossils plug hole in evolutionary theory

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Some odd-looking fish fossils discovered in the bowels of several European museums may help solve a lingering question about evolutionary theory, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday.


Source: Reuters: Science News | 9 Jul 2008 | 5:49 pm

Fish fossils plug hole in evolutionary theory (Reuters)

This undated handout image shows an evolutionary tree with the gradual anatomical changes in the evolution of flatfishes resulting in the origin of their extraordinary, modern body plan. Some odd-looking fish fossils discovered in the bowels of several European museums may help solve a lingering question about evolutionary theory, U.S. researchers said on July 9, 2008. (M. Friedman/The Field Museum/Handout./Reuters)Reuters - Some odd-looking fish fossils discovered in the bowels of several European museums may help solve a lingering question about evolutionary theory, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday.



Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 9 Jul 2008 | 5:48 pm

Magnitude 6.2 quake rattles southern Peru

AREQUIPA, Peru (Reuters) - A magnitude 6.2 earthquake shook southern Peru early on Tuesday, killing at least one person in the Andean country's second-largest city, Arequipa, and damaging scores of homes.


Source: Reuters: Science News | 9 Jul 2008 | 5:40 pm

NASA Aims to Set Sail in Space

NASA plans to test solar sailing, which uses photons from the sun to power a craft.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 9 Jul 2008 | 5:31 pm

Moon's interior 'did hold water'

Scientists find evidence of water in the Moon's interior, challenging elements of the theory of how Earth's satellite formed.
Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 9 Jul 2008 | 5:17 pm

Scientists in quake prediction advance

Researchers take an important step forward in their efforts to predict earthquakes, the journal Nature says.
Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 9 Jul 2008 | 5:02 pm

First Water Found in Moon Rocks

Lunar volcanic rocks are found to contain water, overturning years of research.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 9 Jul 2008 | 4:50 pm

A new species of ghostly carnivorous slug turns up in south Wales

A new species of carnivorous slug named the ghost slug because of its all-white appearance is discovered in south Wales.
Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 9 Jul 2008 | 3:34 pm

Artistic weight

Painter 'ecstatic' after art in zero gravity
Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 9 Jul 2008 | 3:24 pm

Joseph Romm: George Bush's G8 deal to cut carbon emissions isn't enough

Joseph Romm: George Bush's agreement at the G8 to halve carbon emissions by 2050 won't make up for his climate change obstructionism
Source: guardian.co.uk Science | 9 Jul 2008 | 3:00 pm

Obese men have less and poorer quality sperm

Fertility doctors advised obese men to lose weight if they want to start a family
Source: guardian.co.uk Science | 9 Jul 2008 | 2:21 pm