Science Headlines for September 13, 2008

Mad Cow Disease Also Caused By Genetic Mutation

New findings about the causes of mad cow disease show that sometimes it may be genetic. Until several years ago, it was thought that the cattle prion disease bovine spongiform encephalopathy -- also called BSE or mad cow disease -- was a foodborne disease.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 14 Sep 2008 | 12:00 am

Scientist Uncovers Miscalculation In Geological Undersea Record

The precise timing of the origin of life on Earth and the changes in life during the past 4.5 billion years has been a subject of great controversy for the past century. The principal indicator of the amount of organic carbon produced by biological activity traditionally used is the ratio of the less abundant isotope of carbon, ¹³C, to the more abundant isotope, ¹²C. A new study challenges how geologists interpret variations in the ¹³C/¹²C ratio throughout Earth's history.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 14 Sep 2008 | 12:00 am

Some Bladder Problems Are Provoked By Colon

For up to a million women, enjoying a piece of pepperoni pizza has painful consequences. They have a chronic bladder condition that causes pelvic pain. Spicy food, as well as citrus and caffeine, can intensify the pain, which is so intense some women inject lidocaine into their bladders. Researchers previously thought chemicals from the food irritated the bladder. A surprising discovery now reveals the symptoms actually are being provoked by the colon. The discovery opens up new treatment possibilities.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 14 Sep 2008 | 12:00 am

Infidelity Dissected: New Research On Why People Cheat

The probability of someone cheating during the course of a relationship varies between 40 and 76 percent. "It's very high," say researchers.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 14 Sep 2008 | 12:00 am

'Dodgy Dossier' Partly To Blame For Failure Of War Against Malaria In The Tropics

The war against malaria in tropical countries was fought and lost in the 20th century on the basis of faulty intelligence, a 'dodgy dossier' which argued that the same methods used to tackle the disease in temperate countries would also work in the tropics.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 14 Sep 2008 | 12:00 am

Color-coded Bacteria Can Spot Oil Spills Or Leaky Pipes And Storage Tanks

Oil spills and other environmental pollution, including low level leaks from underground pipes and storage tanks, could be quickly and easily spotted in the future using color-coded bacteria, scientists report.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 14 Sep 2008 | 12:00 am

Tracking Down The Menace In Mexico City Smog

Chemical scientists have shown that, bad as the traffic is, the most harmful air pollution in Mexico City may not come from burning fossil fuels. Instead the culprit may be garbage incineration.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 13 Sep 2008 | 6:00 pm

DNA 'Tattoos' Link Adult, Daughter Stem Cells In Planarians

Using the molecular equivalent of a tattoo on DNA that adult stem cells pass to their "daughter" cells in combination with gene expression profiles, researchers have identified two early steps in adult stem cell differentiation -- the process that determines whether cells will form muscle, neurons, skin, etc., in people and animals.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 13 Sep 2008 | 6:00 pm

Key Enzyme For Regulating Heart Attack Damage Found, Scientists Report

Marauding molecules cause the tissue damage that underlies heart attacks, sunburn, Alzheimer's and hangovers. But scientists say they may have found ways to combat the carnage after discovering an important cog in the body's molecular detoxification machinery.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 13 Sep 2008 | 6:00 pm

New Marker For Raised Intracranial Pressure

Magnetic resonance imaging measurements of the thickness of the optic nerve sheath are a good marker for raised intracranial pressure. New research shows that a retro-bulbar optic nerve sheath diameter above 5.82mm predicts raised ICP in 90 percent of cases.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 13 Sep 2008 | 6:00 pm

The Fury of Hurricane Ike

The impact of a huge storm slamming into Texas.
Source: Livescience.com | 13 Sep 2008 | 2:38 pm

Hurricane Ike Slams Texas

Massive Hurricane Ike ravaged southeast Texas early Saturday.
Source: Livescience.com | 13 Sep 2008 | 2:22 pm

Bush lifts restrictions on imported fuel due to Ike (AFP)

AFP - US President George W. Bush announced on Saturday restrictions on imported gasoline had been suspended in response to Hurricane Ike which had forced companies to abandon oil refineries along the Texas coast.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 13 Sep 2008 | 2:08 pm

Hurricane Ike slams Texas coast with major floods (AP)

AP - Massive Hurricane Ike ravaged southeast Texas early Saturday, battering the coast with driving rain and ferocious wind gusts as residents who decided too late they should have heeded orders to evacuate made futile calls for rescue.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 13 Sep 2008 | 1:45 pm

Hurricane Ike Roars Through Texas

Hurricane Ike pounded Texas, causing flooded streets and burning buildings.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 13 Sep 2008 | 12:38 pm

Gene-Transfer Proves Safe for Vision Problem (HealthDay)

HealthDay - FRIDAY, Sept. 12 (HealthDay News) -- Three people with a rare, incurable form of hereditary blindness regained some sight after receiving experimental gene therapy, a new report says.
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 13 Sep 2008 | 3:46 am

Call for creationism in science

Creationism should be discussed in science lessons in UK schools, says the director of education at the Royal Society.
Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 13 Sep 2008 | 3:41 am

Group: Global warming could cost Ohio its buckeyes (AP)

AP - It's not the best-researched global-warming theory, but it could be the most horrifying to certain fans of college football: Environmentalists said Friday that climate change might push the growing range of Ohio's iconic buckeye tree out of the state, leaving it for archrival Michigan.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 12 Sep 2008 | 11:19 pm

Humanists sue as exam agency blocks GCSE

Philip Pullman and AC Grayling back move to give humanism equal footing with organised-religions
Source: Science | guardian.co.uk | 12 Sep 2008 | 11:11 pm

Letters: Science going round in circles from Stonehenge to Cern

Letters: In the late 1940s, Werner Heisenberg (author of the uncertainty principle) came to Bristol and gave a lecture on particle physics
Source: Science | guardian.co.uk | 12 Sep 2008 | 11:10 pm

Bad Science: Don't let facts spoil a good story - how academics' work can be misrepresented by the press

Ben Goldacre: Academics' work can be 'grossly and crassly misrepresented' by the newspapers
Source: Science | guardian.co.uk | 12 Sep 2008 | 11:09 pm

Editorial: Libel battles can make and break reputations, but only rarely do they bear on questions of life and death

Editorial: Libel battles can make and break reputations, but only rarely do they bear on questions of life and death
Source: Science | guardian.co.uk | 12 Sep 2008 | 11:09 pm

Myth world: ancient Babylon visits the British Museum

Hanging Gardens and Tower of Babel under spotlight at British Museum exhibition
Source: Science | guardian.co.uk | 12 Sep 2008 | 11:07 pm

Greenland seeks whaling breakaway

Greenland is trying to withdraw its whale hunt from International Whaling Commission jurisdiction, the BBC learns.
Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 12 Sep 2008 | 11:00 pm

Gene mutation underlies some mad cow disease: study

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A rare genetic mutation may underlie some cases of mad cow disease in cattle and its discovery may help shed light on where the epidemic started, U.S. researchers reported on Friday.

Source: Reuters: Science News | 12 Sep 2008 | 10:53 pm

Ike Underscores Foolishness of Building on Barrier Islands (LiveScience.com)

LiveScience.com - As Hurricane Ike pummels the Texas coast, the only thing standing in the way is a thin stretch of land called Galveston.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 12 Sep 2008 | 9:51 pm

Taxi drivers 'have brain sat-nav'

More evidence for the navigation genius of London cabbies: Their brains have an inbuilt "sat-nav", say scientists.
Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 12 Sep 2008 | 9:36 pm

Ike Underscores Foolishness of Building on Barrier Islands

Barrier islands, some of the most dynamic landforms on Earth, are particularly vulnerable to storms.
Source: Livescience.com | 12 Sep 2008 | 9:20 pm

Video - How a Surge Swamps Galveston

Animation shows the prediction of water level in Galveston, Texas, assuming a storm surge of up to 20 feet. The Water Level graph on the left indicates water level in feet, from 0 (normal sea level). Copyright 2005 3DNature.com.
Source: Livescience.com | 12 Sep 2008 | 8:29 pm

Scientists race to crack the potato's genetic code

LIMA (Reuters) - Scientists around the world have teamed up to sequence the genome of the potato, hoping to crack the genetic code of one of the world's most important crops at a time of surging population growth and high food prices.

Source: Reuters: Science News | 12 Sep 2008 | 8:18 pm

History's Worst Storm Surges

Some of the worst storm surge event in U.S. history.
Source: Livescience.com | 12 Sep 2008 | 7:37 pm

Doomsday fears come with territory

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Doomsday predictions surrounding the start-up of Europe's Large Hadron Collider -- a giant particle-smasher designed to explore the origins of the universe -- come as little surprise to physicists.

Source: Reuters: Science News | 12 Sep 2008 | 7:35 pm

Why Ike's Storm Surge Could Devastate Galveston

Ike's incredible storm surge is a combination of the storm's strength and size.
Source: Livescience.com | 12 Sep 2008 | 7:30 pm

Experiment Boosts Hopes for Space Solar Power

A scientist has used radio waves to transmit solar power between two islands.
Source: Livescience.com | 12 Sep 2008 | 7:17 pm

Experiment Boosts Hopes for Space Solar Power (SPACE.com)

SPACE.com - WASHINGTON A former NASA scientist has used radio waves to transmit solar power a distance of 92 miles (148 km) between two Hawaiian islands, an achievement that he says proves the technology exists to beam solar power from satellites back to Earth.
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 12 Sep 2008 | 7:15 pm

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