Frogs With Disease-resistance Genes May Escape Extinction

As frog populations die off around the world, researchers have identified certain genes that can help the amphibians develop resistance to harmful bacteria and disease. The discovery may provide new strategies to protect frog populations in the wild. New work examines how genes encoding the major histocompatibility complex affect the ability of frogs to resist infection by a bacterium that is associated with frog population declines.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 17 Jul 2008 | 3:00 pm

Genetic Variation Increases HIV Risk In Africans

A genetic variation which evolved to protect people of African descent against malaria has now been shown to increase their susceptibility to HIV infection by up to 40 percent, according to new research. Conversely, the same variation also appears to prolong survival of those infected with HIV by approximately two years.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 17 Jul 2008 | 3:00 pm

Could Climate Change Impact Costa Rica? New Study Says Yes

Climate change could have a major impact on the environment of Costa Rica, upsetting delicate mountain cloud forests, and causing a decrease in plant and animal species in a region famous for its biodiversity. Regional climate models predict that the area will become warmer and drier as climate change accelerates.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 17 Jul 2008 | 3:00 pm

Allergy To Road Traffic: Exposure To Traffic-related Air Pollution Linked To Onset Of Allergic Diseases In Children

Allergic diseases appear more often in children who grow up near busy roads according to a new study involving several thousand children. It was shown that an escalation of asthmatic bronchitis and allergic sensitization to pollen and other common allergens occurred with increasing exposure to fine dust. Increased exposure to nitric oxide was linked to increases in eczema.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 17 Jul 2008 | 3:00 pm

Can You Be Born A Couch Potato? Genetic Influence Found In Active And Sedentary Behavior Of Mice

The key to good health is to be physically active. The key to being active is... to be born that way? In two genetic analyses performed on mouse hybrids descended from strains known for their high and low levels of physical activity, researchers have located six single and several interacting sets of genes that have a large effect on the animals' predisposition to engage in physical activity. The research points to the profound influence of genes governing dopamine regulation in the brain and suggests that active or inactive behavior may be inherited in mammals.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 17 Jul 2008 | 3:00 pm

Giant Clams 'Secure For Another Generation' After Philippine Re-seeding

Re-seeding programs on over 50 reefs are securing the survival of the giant clam for at least another generation. The clams, the world's largest bivalve mollusks and the star of lurid but mostly imaginary literary and cinematic depictions of trapped divers, can live for over a century. They have been known to exceed 1.4 meters in length and weigh in at over 260 kilograms.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 17 Jul 2008 | 3:00 pm

Invisible Carpet Idea Close to Actual Invisibility

An invisible carpet using silica could hide anything under it from visible light.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 17 Jul 2008 | 1:57 pm

Boy, 11, Tracks Speeders with Toy Radar Gun

Police can't be everywhere, so 11-year-old Landon Wilburn is on patrol in the Stone Lakes subdivision in Louisville. Landon told The Courier-Journal he used to shout at speeders to slow down — then had a better idea.
Source: Livescience.com | 17 Jul 2008 | 1:46 pm

Water 'widespread' on early Mars

Water was once widespread on Mars, data show, raising the prospect the planet could have supported life.
Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 17 Jul 2008 | 1:28 pm

Lightning Remains Huge Mystery (LiveScience.com)

LiveScience.com - As common as lightning is, it still sparks considerable confusion among scientists.
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 17 Jul 2008 | 1:16 pm

Nature's Own Nano Gold Found

Natural, microscopic plates of gold are found in salty groundwaters.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 17 Jul 2008 | 1:12 pm

Lightning Remains Huge Mystery

As common as lightning is, it still sparks considerable confusion among scientists.
Source: Livescience.com | 17 Jul 2008 | 1:11 pm

Temptation: How Men and Women Differ

Temptation shows that, once again, men are from Mars and women are from Venus.
Source: Livescience.com | 17 Jul 2008 | 12:57 pm

Further Evidence For Genetic Contribution To Autism

Some parents of children with autism evaluate facial expressions differently than the rest of us -- and in a way that is strikingly similar to autistic patients themselves, according to new research by neuroscientist.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 17 Jul 2008 | 12:00 pm

Young Adults With Prehypertension Are More Likely To Have Atherosclerosis Later In Life

Prehypertension during young adulthood is common and is associated with coronary atherosclerosis, according to a new study. The findings suggest that young adults should try to keep their blood pressure below 120/80 mmHg.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 17 Jul 2008 | 12:00 pm

Detecting Flu Viruses In Remote Areas Of The World

Researchers are reporting an advance in the quest for a fast, sensitive test to detect flu viruses -- one that requires no refrigeration and can be used in remote areas of the world where new flu viruses often emerge. Their new method is the first to use sugar molecules rather than antibodies.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 17 Jul 2008 | 12:00 pm

New Way To Weigh Giant Black Holes

How do you weigh the biggest black holes in the universe? One answer now comes from a completely new and independent technique that astronomers have developed using data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. By measuring a peak in the temperature of hot gas in the center of the giant elliptical galaxy NGC 4649, scientists have determined the mass of the galaxy's supermassive black hole. The method, applied for the first time, gives results that are consistent with a traditional technique.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 17 Jul 2008 | 12:00 pm

Democrats try to spur more oil exploration (AP)

A cyclist rides past a gas station in Santa Monica, Calif., Wednesday, July 16, 2008. Consumer prices shot up in June at the second fastest pace in 26 years with two-thirds of the surge blamed on soaring energy prices. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)AP - Seeking to blunt GOP efforts to permit oil exploration off Atlantic and Pacific coasts, House Democrats are pushing legislation they say would spur oil drilling on already available lands in Alaska, the West and the western Gulf of Mexico.



Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 17 Jul 2008 | 11:39 am

Writing for an Extraterrestrial Audience

College students wrote messages to intelligent life on other worlds.
Source: Livescience.com | 17 Jul 2008 | 11:08 am

How Mars and Alaska Are Alike

Bucknell professors predicted an important planetary observation.
Source: Livescience.com | 17 Jul 2008 | 11:08 am

Genetic variant makes Africans more vulnerable to HIV

A gene that once protected people of African descent from malaria is now making them more susceptible to HIV infection
Source: guardian.co.uk Science | 17 Jul 2008 | 10:51 am

Automakers offer hybrids for NYC taxi fleet (AP)

A hybrid Chevrolet Malibu, left, Nissan Altima, center, and a Ford Explorer are parked outside New York's City Hall, Wednesday, July 16, 2008. Nissan North America, General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. said Wednesday they are setting aside the environmentally friendly cars to help the city reach its goal of making all yellow cabs green by 2012. Today there are about 13,000 cabs on the street, including more than 1,300 are hybrids. The auto manufacturers are promising to reserve 300 new hybrid vehicles each month exclusively for New York City as it replaces its entire fleet of yellow cabs. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)AP - Three major auto manufacturers are promising to reserve 300 new hybrid vehicles each month exclusively for the city as it replaces its entire fleet of yellow cabs.



Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 17 Jul 2008 | 10:39 am

The Nation's Weather (AP)

The forecast for noon, Thursday, July 17, 2008 shows a front will initiate showers and storms from the Great Lakes to the Plains. Unsettled weather is forecast for the Intermountain West and Southeast, while high pressure will dominate and keep the Mid-Atlantic clear. The West Coast remains sunny and warm. (AP Photo/Weather Underground)AP - Heavy rain and gusty winds were forecast Thursday for the Northern and Central Plains. Cloudy skies were expected across New England and showers were possible.



Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 17 Jul 2008 | 10:24 am

Drought diary

Colorado River trip sees effects of years of US drought
Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 17 Jul 2008 | 9:56 am

Gore sets 'moon shot' goal on climate change (AP)

AP - Just as John F. Kennedy set his sights on the moon, Al Gore is challenging the nation to produce every kilowatt of electricity through wind, sun and other Earth-friendly energy sources within 10 years, an audacious goal he hopes the next president will embrace.
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 17 Jul 2008 | 9:35 am

Illegal trade in Indonesian markets putting wild animals in danger (AFP)

An animal market in Jakarta. Tiger skins and rare caged primates openly sold at markets in the heart of Indonesia's capital are the most brazen and visible aspect of a thriving illegal wildlife trade(AFP/Jewel Samad)AFP - Tiger skins and rare caged primates openly sold at markets in the heart of Indonesia's capital are the most brazen and visible aspect of a thriving illegal wildlife trade.



Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 17 Jul 2008 | 4:05 am

'Survival zones' for butterflies

Ten areas of Scotland are identified as frontlines in the fight to save rare insects from extinction.
Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 16 Jul 2008 | 11:44 pm

Cathedral dig yields finds from 1700s New Orleans (AP)

Shannon Lee Dawdy, assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Chicago, shows off some of the relics found during an archeological dig behind St. Louis Cathedral in the French Quarter, New Orleans, Tuesday, July 1, 2008. Archaeologists digging behind St. Louis Cathedral are unearthing nearly three centuries of history: the porcelain head of a tiny doll, an ersatz colonial-era pipe from the 1800s, bits of pottery that Indians may have traded to the men who built New Orleans. (AP Photo/Cheryl Gerber)AP - The first archaeological dig at one of the nation's oldest cathedrals has turned up a mix of new finds in the heart of the French Quarter. Discoveries behind St. Louis Cathedral include a small silver crucifix from the 1770s or 1780s and traces of previously unknown buildings dating back to around the city's founding in 1718.



Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 16 Jul 2008 | 11:39 pm

Menthol is used to hook young smokers: study

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Tobacco companies manipulate the amount of menthol in cigarettes to make those first few puffs more palatable to young smokers, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday in a finding that could fuel support for more tobacco regulation.


Source: Reuters: Science News | 16 Jul 2008 | 11:19 pm

Ariane Sherine: Golden slumbers

Ariane Sherine: Science has confirmed a good sleep is crucial for brains to function. This is just the excuse we need
Source: guardian.co.uk Science | 16 Jul 2008 | 11:08 pm

Nasa's latest mission: to boldly go

Agency's researchers begin urine collection drive as part of spacecraft toilet testing
Source: guardian.co.uk Science | 16 Jul 2008 | 11:06 pm

Health: Britain lags behind in world cancer survival, says study

First-ever global study of cancer survival rates during the 1990s reveals UK's poor record
Source: guardian.co.uk Science | 16 Jul 2008 | 11:06 pm

NASA moon capsule running late, full of problems (AP)

This artist rendering shows NASA's next-generation of moon rockets being developed at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, Ala. Ares I, left, is the crew launch vehicle that will carry astronauts to space. Ares V is the cargo launch vehicle that will deliver the lunar lander and other large hardware to space. By day, the engineers in Huntsville, work on NASA's new Ares moon rockets. By night, some go undercover, working on a competing design. These dissenters and their backers say their alternative rocket would be safer, cheaper and easier to build than the two Ares spacecraft, which have already cost NASA $7 billion. (AP Photo/NASA, Marshall Space Flight Center)AP - Money problems will likely force NASA to abandon its ambitious internal goal of having a new moon spaceship ready by 2013, a top space agency official told The Associated Press Wednesday.



Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 16 Jul 2008 | 10:42 pm

Apes departing Hollywood for Iowa research center

DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) - Filmmakers looking for an ape may be left scratching their heads after Hollywood's sole supplier of orangutans decided to quit renting them out and send six of them to an Iowa sanctuary, the facility's owner said on Wednesday.


Source: Reuters: Science News | 16 Jul 2008 | 9:34 pm

Clean is mean

Engine makers meet calls for more fuel efficient planes
Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 16 Jul 2008 | 8:40 pm

Sea die-out blamed on volcanoes

Undersea volcanic activity has been blamed for a mass extinction in the seas 93 million years ago.
Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 16 Jul 2008 | 8:38 pm

Dig Reveals 18th Century New Orleans

A cathedral dig turns up a mix of artifacts in the heart of the French Quarter.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 16 Jul 2008 | 8:22 pm

Empathy Is 'Hard-Wired' in Children's Brains

Scans show young naturally prone to relate to pain in others, study says
Source: Livescience.com | 16 Jul 2008 | 8:13 pm

Big Tobacco Lures Young Smokers With Menthol Cigarettes: Study

Researchers say industry manipulates the ingredient to recruit new generation of users
Source: Livescience.com | 16 Jul 2008 | 8:12 pm

'Middle Earth' Mountains: Steep and Strong

New Zealand's craggy mountain ranges get a geological explanation.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 16 Jul 2008 | 7:22 pm

Volcanoes Blamed for Mass Extinctions

Eruptions on the sea floor may have triggered mass extinctions millions of years ago.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 16 Jul 2008 | 6:55 pm

Gene variant common in Africa ups HIV risk: study

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A gene variant that emerged thousands of years ago to protect Africans from malaria may raise their vulnerability to HIV infection but help them live longer once infected, researchers said on Wednesday.


Source: Reuters: Science News | 16 Jul 2008 | 6:26 pm

Ancient bones could yield TB clue

Researchers are using human remains from the ancient city of Jericho to study the origin and evolution of tuberculosis.
Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 16 Jul 2008 | 6:11 pm

Russian says remains of last Tsar's son identified

YEKATERINBURG, Russia (Reuters) - Russia said on Wednesday that charred remains found in a pit belonged to Tsar Nicholas II's only son and his daughter, exactly 90 years after the Bolsheviks shocked the world by murdering the last Tsar.


Source: Reuters: Science News | 16 Jul 2008 | 5:41 pm

Nasa launches volunteer urine collection drive

Nasa is calling upon its employees and visitors to give their all in one of its trickiest missions: to boldly go into a beaker
Source: guardian.co.uk Science | 16 Jul 2008 | 5:23 pm

More evidence shows Mars once was wet all over

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Minerals in the soil of Mars show it was covered once by lakes, rivers and other bodies of water that could have supported life, U.S. researchers reported on Wednesday.


Source: Reuters: Science News | 16 Jul 2008 | 5:13 pm

The Future of Babies: Artificial Wombs and Pregnant Grandmas

Artificial wombs and experiments on human embryos will be no big deal in 30 years.
Source: Livescience.com | 16 Jul 2008 | 5:12 pm

Young Galaxies Surprisingly Magnetic

Magnetic fields build up in galaxies much faster than previously thought, a new study found.
Source: Livescience.com | 16 Jul 2008 | 5:07 pm

Malaria gene 'increases HIV risk'

A gene which protects against malaria increases vulnerability to HIV infection by 40%, say scientists.
Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 16 Jul 2008 | 4:10 pm

Baseball Physics: Deception and Battered Expectations

On fields of dreams, humiliation and farce.
Source: Livescience.com | 16 Jul 2008 | 3:49 pm

Tropical Storm Bertha moves east across Atlantic

MIAMI (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Bertha strengthened on Wednesday as it moved eastward across the Atlantic, away from the British colony of Bermuda and over open ocean, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.


Source: Reuters: Science News | 16 Jul 2008 | 3:44 pm

Mars Once Benign, Water-Rich

A Mars orbiter finds evidence the planet was once mild with water bathing its surface.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 16 Jul 2008 | 2:19 pm

Warm climate

Can India build bridges across Asia on climate change?
Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 16 Jul 2008 | 2:18 pm

Severn tidal 'fence' idea floated

Opponents of the proposed barrage on the Severn estuary put forward an alternative tidal energy plan.
Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 16 Jul 2008 | 2:12 pm

Found: Milky Way's Second-Brightest Star

A super-giant star as bright as 3.2 million suns earns a second place ribbon.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 16 Jul 2008 | 1:44 pm

NASA Wants Your Urine

A NASA urine drive aims to help engineers design a new space toilet.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 16 Jul 2008 | 1:05 pm

Sick bees lose their buzz, study finds

LONDON (Reuters) - Bumblebees lose a bit of their buzz when ill, and like humans, have a tougher time doing daily tasks until they recover, British researchers said on Wednesday.


Source: Reuters: Science News | 16 Jul 2008 | 12:31 pm