Science Headlines for September 5, 2008

Low-birth-weight Children Should Have Their Blood Pressure Checked, Researchers Find

Blood pressure in low-birth-weight children younger than 3 years of age not only can be measured but should be, researchers have found.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 5 Sep 2008 | 9:00 pm

Theory Of Sun's Role In Formation Of Solar System Questioned

A strange mix of oxygen found in a stony meteorite that exploded over Pueblito de Allende, Mexico nearly 40 years ago has puzzled scientists ever since. Small flecks of minerals lodged in the stone and thought to date from the beginning of the solar system have a pattern of oxygen types, or isotopes, that differs from those found in all known planetary rocks, including those from Earth, its Moon and meteorites from Mars.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 5 Sep 2008 | 9:00 pm

Hallucinations In The Flash Of An Eye

Specific brain regions show increased activity during hallucinations. Researchers introduce a new experimental approach to studying hallucinations as they occur.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 5 Sep 2008 | 9:00 pm

Designer Wine? Characterization Of Grapevine Transposons May Aid Development Of New Grape Varieties

A new study presents a genome-wide characterization of grapevine transposons. This work shows that transposons have captured and amplified gene sequences in grapevines, which could have had an impact on gene evolution and their regulation.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 5 Sep 2008 | 9:00 pm

Scientists Peel Away Mystery Behind Gold's Catalytic Prowess

Using the world's most powerful microscopes for chemical analysis, scientists have pinpointed where the conversion of carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide occurs when gold is supported on iron oxide. CO oxidation is critical to firefighters and others who wear protect masks when entering a burning building. Bilayer clusters of atoms less than a nanometer in dimension are found to be responsible for a vital oxidation reaction.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 5 Sep 2008 | 9:00 pm

Link Between Obesity, Type 2 Diabetes And Neurodegeneration Found

Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus can contribute to mild neurodegeneration with features common with Alzheimer's disease -- the first study to show that obesity can cause neurodegeneration.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 5 Sep 2008 | 9:00 pm

Yale Researchers Find 'Junk DNA' May Have Triggered Key Evolutionary Changes In Human Thumb And Foot

Out of the 3 billion genetic letters that spell out the human genome, Yale scientists have found a handful that may have contributed to the evolutionary changes in human limbs that enabled us to manipulate tools and walk upright.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 5 Sep 2008 | 6:00 pm

How Salmonella Bacteria Contaminate Salad Leaves

How does Salmonella bacteria cause food poisoning by attaching to salad leaves? A new study shows how some Salmonella bacteria use the long stringy appendages they normally use to help them "swim" and move about to attach themselves to salad leaves and other vegetables, causing contamination and a health risk.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 5 Sep 2008 | 6:00 pm

Promising Method For Reducing MRSA Infections In Hospitals

Researchers report that switching between two antibiotics, linezolid and vancomycin, every three months in the surgical ICU decreased the MRSA infection rate from 1.9 to 1.4 patients per 100 admissions. In-hospital mortality from surgical ICU-acquired MRSA infections fell from 3.8 patients per year to none.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 5 Sep 2008 | 6:00 pm

Infectious, Test Tube-produced Prions Can Jump The 'Species Barrier'

Researchers have shown that they can create entirely new strains of infectious proteins known as prions in the laboratory by simply mixing infectious prions from one species with the normal prion proteins of another species.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 5 Sep 2008 | 6:00 pm

New fingerprint method could unlock cold cases

LONDON (Reuters) - It's a discovery that would make even Sherlock Holmes proud. British scientists have developed a new crime-fighting technique that allows police to lift fingerprints from bullets even if a criminal has wiped down a shell casing.

Source: Reuters: Science News | 5 Sep 2008 | 1:06 pm

The Common Cold: Myths and Facts

Surprising truths about the common cold.
Source: Livescience.com | 5 Sep 2008 | 1:01 pm

Look, Up in the Sky! Strange Star Names

Some stars possess interesting stories behind their names.
Source: Livescience.com | 5 Sep 2008 | 10:50 am

Gorilla Diary

Soldiers are moved out of Virunga National Park
Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 5 Sep 2008 | 10:14 am

Power down

Will lack of wind scupper UK plans for electricity?
Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 5 Sep 2008 | 9:49 am

Frog hunt

Watch your step: the rainforest is full of spiders
Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 5 Sep 2008 | 9:21 am

Down's signs 'seen in stem cells'

Scientists in London have traced the embryonic changes that occur in children with Down's syndrome
Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 5 Sep 2008 | 1:36 am

Power from waste

"Biowaste" plants may be based on a Shropshire scheme
Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 5 Sep 2008 | 12:49 am

Sea level rise by 2100 'below 2m'

Natural restrictions on the way glaciers move means sea level rise above 2m this century is very unlikely, researchers say.
Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 4 Sep 2008 | 10:49 pm

Google is 10

What is the secret behind Google's huge success?
Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 4 Sep 2008 | 10:29 pm

Shuttle Atlantis hauled to launch pad in Florida

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - NASA hauled the space shuttle Atlantis to the seaside launch pad on Thursday, hopeful a trio of storms churning over the Atlantic Ocean will steer clear of the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Source: Reuters: Science News | 4 Sep 2008 | 10:16 pm

2 Million Cancer Cases Tied to Tobacco Use

The U.S. review covered the period from 1999 to 2004
Source: Livescience.com | 4 Sep 2008 | 9:25 pm

Non-Hospital Baby Abductions on the Rise

Study highlights the value of education and media involvement
Source: Livescience.com | 4 Sep 2008 | 9:24 pm

Experts offer scaled-back sea level rise forecast

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Worldwide sea levels may rise by about 2.6 to 6.6 feet by 2100 thanks to global warming, but dire predictions of larger increases seem unrealistic, U.S. scientists said on Thursday.

Source: Reuters: Science News | 4 Sep 2008 | 9:10 pm

Video – The Next Step in Revolutionary Electronics

Accidental discovery of the elusive “memristor” electronic component. It could soon replace both RAM and hard drives with devices 10x smaller. Cell phones might become sensors, protecting planet Earth. Credit: Richard Hart - The Next Step
Source: Livescience.com | 4 Sep 2008 | 9:09 pm

Why Dewdrops Stay on the Rose

The droplets don't roll off. What binds them to the petals?
Source: Livescience.com | 4 Sep 2008 | 8:58 pm

Gene trawl shows curing cancer harder than thought

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Cancer experts who probed every gene in tumors from two of the hardest-to-treat cancers found that cancer is much more complicated than anyone thought -- and say they found why a cure is so unlikely after a tumor has spread.

Source: Reuters: Science News | 4 Sep 2008 | 7:56 pm

Survey: Keep Religion Out of Politics

The shift in this thinking is largely among conservatives.
Source: Livescience.com | 4 Sep 2008 | 7:46 pm

Gene may hold key to neutralizing HIV: U.S. study

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The AIDS virus is especially hard to fight because few people develop antibodies to neutralize it, but U.S. researchers said on Thursday they have found an immunity gene that may offer a new way to fight back.

Source: Reuters: Science News | 4 Sep 2008 | 7:39 pm

Bumblebees outwit robotic spiders

Bumblebees learn from their encounters with camouflaged crab spiders and adapt their foraging strategy.
Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 4 Sep 2008 | 6:47 pm

Raising vegetables under Canada's midnight sun

INUVIK, Northwest Territories (Reuters) - Amanda Joynt reached down and picked a fresh tomato from the vine. That's no small feat when you are living 200 km (120 miles) above the Arctic Circle in Canada's Far North.

Source: Reuters: Science News | 4 Sep 2008 | 6:44 pm

U.S. study clears measles vaccine of autism link

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Scientists who tried to replicate a study that once tied a measles vaccine with autism said on Wednesday they could not find any link and hope their study will encourage parents to vaccinate their children to combat a rash of measles outbreaks.