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Andes Mountains Are Older Than Previously BelievedMuch is known about the rise of the central Andes mountains, but a new study of the eastern Andes in Colombia indicates that mountain building began much earlier there.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 17 May 2009 | 9:00 pm Strange Bird Gets Private Beach In IndonesiaA private beach is a luxury for most, but for the maleo--an endangered bird found only on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi--an exclusive stretch of sand is now a protected nesting area for the species.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 17 May 2009 | 9:00 pm Environmentally-friendly Cooling With Magnetic Refrigerators Coming SoonScientists are a step closer to making environmentally-friendly 'magnetic' refrigerators and air conditioning systems a reality.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 17 May 2009 | 9:00 pm Painkiller Patch Can Lead To AddictionMorphine patches are supposed to reduce use of painkillers, and provide more control over their use in chronic pain conditions. But researchers have found otherwise.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 17 May 2009 | 9:00 pm Heart Disorder Linked To Alzheimer's DiseaseResearchers believe that they have made a breakthrough connection between atrial fibrillation, a common heart rhythm disorder, and Alzheimer's disease, the leading form of dementia among Americans. Researchers unveiled findings from the study of more than 37,000 patients that showed a strong relationship between atrial fibrillation and the development of Alzheimer's disease.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 17 May 2009 | 9:00 pm A Stronger Backbone: DHEA Hormone Replacement Increases Bone Density In Older WomenA new study has found that taking DHEA hormone supplements in conjunction with calcium and vitamin D could lower the risk of spine fractures in older women by 30 to 50 percent. The treatment, however, did not offer similar benefits for older men.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 17 May 2009 | 9:00 pm Europium Found To Be A SuperconductorOf the 92 naturally occurring elements, add another to the list of those that are superconductors. Scientist have discovered that europium becomes superconducting at 1.8 K (-456 °F) and 80 GPa (790,000 atmospheres) of pressure, making it the 53rd known elemental superconductor and the 23rd at high pressure.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 17 May 2009 | 3:00 pm Brain's Organization Switches As Children Become AdultsAny child confronting an outraged parent demanding to know "What were you thinking?" now has a new response: "Scientists have discovered that my brain is organized differently from yours."Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 17 May 2009 | 3:00 pm Derivative Of Red Sea Coral May Fight Skin CancerScientists are exploring the mechanisms by which a substance derived ultimately from Red Sea coral could help treat skin cancer.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 17 May 2009 | 3:00 pm Women With Hard To Diagnose Chest Pain Symptoms At Higher Risk For Cardiovascular EventsWomen with chest pain but without coronary artery disease are at an elevated risk for cardiovascular events such as heart attack or stroke, new research shows.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 17 May 2009 | 3:00 pm UN chief urges action on rising climate change risk (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 17 May 2009 | 11:29 am Astronauts trying to bring device back from dead (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 17 May 2009 | 11:27 am Abortion clouds Obama event at Notre Dame (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 17 May 2009 | 11:24 am UN: Growth of slums boosting natural disaster risk (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 17 May 2009 | 11:23 am Astronauts Set for Next Daunting Hubble Fix (SPACE.com)SPACE.com - HOUSTON - One day after the partially resurrecting a broken camera on the Hubble Space Telescope, Atlantis astronauts will head out again Sunday to attempt another daunting fix.Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 17 May 2009 | 10:45 am The Nation's Weather (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 17 May 2009 | 9:05 am NASA: Hubble Camera's Repair a Partial Success (SPACE.com)SPACE.com - HOUSTON - An ambitious attempt by Atlantis astronauts to fix the Hubble Space Telescope's broken main camera has apparently met with only partial success, with one of the instrument's three photo channels failing to recover as hoped, NASA officials said early Sunday.Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 17 May 2009 | 7:16 am South Korea tries recharging road to power vehiclesSEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's top technology university has developed a plan to power electric cars through recharging strips embedded in roadways that use a technology to transfer energy found in some electric toothbrushes.Source: Reuters: Science News | 17 May 2009 | 3:51 am Hubble's new spectrograph fittedAstronaut install a new spectrograph and perform repairs never before attempted in space to upgrade the Hubble telescope.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 17 May 2009 | 3:19 am Flourishing eagles feast on Maine's rare seabirds (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 17 May 2009 | 2:39 am Changes: Energy, health care 2 areas Obama cites (AP)AP - President Barack Obama says agreement on an energy bill and a promise by interest groups to squeeze trillions of dollars in savings from the health care system show that change has come to Washington.Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 17 May 2009 | 12:14 am Who falls for scams? Not the usual suspectsNew research looks into what makes some of us susceptible to a hoax. Neasa Macerlean reports Knowing about investments, being impulsive, living on your own - these are some of the characteristics that could help make you susceptible to fake lotteries, bogus holidays and other scams, as revealed in ground-breaking research on the psychology of scam victims to be published by the Office of Fair Trading tomorrow. Despite the fact that one in 15 people fall victim to this type of scam each year, losing an average of £1,000, the psychology of scamming has been neglected as a subject of study. But, commissioned by the OFT, the University of Exeter carried out in-depth psychological interviews with victims, sent fake prize draw mailings to 10,000 people and carried out other research. Some of the conclusions are surprising. "A good background knowledge of the subject of a scam offer, such as experience of investments, may actually increase the risk of becoming a victim through over-confidence," the researchers conclude. They also say "victims are not, in general, poor decision-makers". Far more common traits include: • A "lack of emotional control" which could make them impulsive. • A degree of isolation, either by living alone or by not sharing their decision to invest (which suggests that they are partly aware that the offer is fundamentally suspect). • A history of being scammed (some 10% to 20 % of the population is deemed vulnerable to scams by the OFT because they are serial victims). • Being vulnerable to certain psychological triggers - such as the building of relationships, often through phone calls, with apparently obliging people (who turn out to be scamsters); being impressed by authority (as many scam letters use words, fonts and other techniques to give themselves gravitas); and feeling "a strong inclination to give something back" if they receive a small gift. People with a resistance to such frauds "often discard scams virtually unread", say the researchers. In contrast, victims can pour over the scam documents, feeling uneasy but not acting on those hunches that tell them to walk away. "Scams cause psychological as well as financial harm to victims," the Exeter team says. "Some of the victims we interviewed appeared to have been seriously damaged by their experience." • The Psychology of Scams: Provoking and Committing Errors of Judgment by the Exeter School of Psychology is published tomorrow on oft.gov.uk guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Source: Evolution, genetics, medicine, physics & astronomy news | guardian.co.uk | 16 May 2009 | 11:01 pm The 15 plants killing our countrysideRogue species of rhododendron, hyacinth and waterweed may be banned from sale Garden centres and nurseries could be banned from selling several popular plants under new measures being considered by the government to control alien species invading the UK. Top of the list are a number of varieties of pond weed used as oxygenators in garden ponds. Having escaped into the wild, they are now overwhelming waterways throughout the country. Rhododendron ponticum, which has colonised woodlands since being introduced as an ornamental plant in 1793 to Kew Gardens, is also earmarked because of the potential impact it has on native flora and fauna, including the dormouse. In all, 15 species are named in a consultation by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, despite protests that some of the plants are so widespread that stopping further sales will make no difference. Rhododendron growers and retailers are particularly concerned, saying it is not clear whether any ban would cover hybrids or variants of rhododendron ponticum, which would have a significant economic impact. While rhododendron ponticum is not commonly bought for gardens, it is abundant on large estates, being particularly useful for game cover. However, the plant is widely used as rootstock, for grafting many hundreds of hybrid varieties. If such hybrids were also to be banned, the law would have to be phased in over several years to allow growers to develop different methods of propagating popular ornamental varieties, say experts. The Horticultural Trade Association said one leading rhododendron grower was producing more than 1,000 plants of various cultivars which used ponticum as an understock. That business would lose £20,000 a year. Tony Dickerson, horticulture adviser at the Royal Horticultural Association, warned that one of the major problems in implementing any sales ban was that plants were often not correctly labelled in garden centres and nurseries. Keith Davenport, chief executive of the Ornamental Aquatic Trade Association (OATA) said that banning Canadian waterweed, a plant routinely found in garden and aquatic centres, was "not likely to have any impact". Brought in by the timber trade, it had since been spread by boats, currents, vehicles and anglers, and was now found almost everywhere. He said: "It's a bit like shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted, run round the paddock five times and galloped off yonder." Davenport argued that banning Canadian waterweed, along with Nuttalls waterweed and curly waterweed, would cost the industry between £2m and £5m in annual sales. The water hyacinth, a showy plant with light blue to violet flowers, is also on the list. Annual sales are worth around £1m. But there is opposition to banning its sale, not least because experts say that as a tropical plant it is not hardy enough to survive in the UK and therefore cannot be considered invasive. "It would take phenomenal climate change for that to survive our winters," said Dickerson. The DIY and gardening chain B&Q said it did not stock any of the 15 listed plants and fully endorsed the proposal to ban them. But the Environment Agency has cautioned that publicity on any ban on sales would have to be handled extremely carefully as there was a risk it might exacerbate the problems. "In banning the sale of certain water plants for use in aquaria and garden ponds, alternative native plants will need to be promoted and marketed," it told Defra. "There is a danger that publicity will result in a sudden upsurge in problems caused by householders or businesses getting rid of these plants already in their aquaria, ponds or gardens. Care will be needed in managing this, particularly in relation to attractive or popular plants such as Canadian pond weed and parrot's feather." The government will make a decision on the future sales of these plants later this year. The National Council for the Conservation of Plants and Gardens said it could mean barriers to conservation activities, and the National Farmers' Union said Defra should compensate growers for loss of the wholesale market value. Unwelcome intrudersCarpobrotus edulis - Hottentot fig Allium paradoxum - Few-flowered leek Rhododendon ponticum Fallopia japonica - Japanese knotweed Impatiens glandulifera - Himalayan balsam Eichornia crassipes - Water hyacinth Azolla filiculoides - Water fern Myriophyllum aquaticum - Parrot's feather Hydrocotyle ranunculoides - Floating pennywort Gaultheria shallon - Shallon Crassula helmsii - Australian swamp stonecrop Ludwigia peploides - Water primrose Elodea canadensis - Canadian waterweed Elodea nuttallii - Nuttalls waterweed Lagarosiphon major - Curly waterweed guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Source: Evolution, genetics, medicine, physics & astronomy news | guardian.co.uk | 16 May 2009 | 11:01 pm How Neanderthals met a grisly fate: devoured by humansA fossil discovery bears marks of butchering similar to those made when cutting up a deer One of science's most puzzling mysteries - the disappearance of the Neanderthals - may have been solved. Modern humans ate them, says a leading fossil expert. The controversial suggestion follows publication of a study in the Journal of Anthropological Sciences about a Neanderthal jawbone apparently butchered by modern humans. Now the leader of the research team says he believes the flesh had been eaten by humans, while its teeth may have been used to make a necklace. Fernando Rozzi, of Paris's Centre National de la Récherche Scientifique, said the jawbone had probably been cut into to remove flesh, including the tongue. Crucially, the butchery was similar to that used by humans to cut up deer carcass in the early Stone Age. "Neanderthals met a violent end at our hands and in some cases we ate them," Rozzi said. The idea will provoke considerable opposition from scientists who believe Neanderthals disappeared for reasons that did not involve violence. Neanderthals were a sturdy species who evolved in Europe 300,000 years ago, made complex stone tools and survived several ice ages before they disappeared 30,000 years ago - just as modern human beings arrived in Europe from Africa. Some researchers believe Neanderthals may have failed to compete effectively with Homo sapiens for resources, or were more susceptible to the impact of climate change. But others believe our interactions were violent and terminal for the Neanderthals. According to Rozzi, the discovery at Les Rois in south-west France provides compelling support for that argument. Previous excavations revealed bones that were thought to be exclusively human. But Rozzi's team re-examined them and found one they concluded was Neanderthal. Importantly, it was covered in cut marks similar to those left behind when flesh is stripped from deer and other animals using stone tools. Rozzi believes the jawbone provides crucial evidence that humans attacked Neanderthals, and sometimes killed them, bringing back their bodies to caves to eat or to use their skulls or teeth as trophies. "For years, people have tried to hide away from the evidence of cannibalism, but I think we have to accept it took place," he added. But not every team member agrees. "One set of cut marks does not make a complete case for cannibalism," said Francesco d'Errico, of the Institute of Prehistory in Bordeaux. It was also possible that the jawbone had been found by humans and its teeth used to make a necklace, he said. "This is a very important investigation," said Professor Chris Stringer, of the Natural History Museum, London. "We do need more evidence, but this could indicate modern humans and Neanderthals were living in the same area of Europe at the same time, that they were interacting, and that some of these interactions may have been hostile. "This does not prove we systematically eradicated the Neanderthals or that we regularly ate their flesh. But it does add to the evidence that competition from modern humans probably contributed to Neanderthal extinction." guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Source: Evolution, genetics, medicine, physics & astronomy news | guardian.co.uk | 16 May 2009 | 11:01 pm Space station module handed overEurope completes its last major space station module and will now ship it to the Kennedy Space Center in the US for launch.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 16 May 2009 | 9:11 pm Astronauts complete tricky Hubble repairsHOUSTON (Reuters) - Two spacewalking astronauts on Saturday tackled one of their toughest repairs to the Hubble Space Telescope -- a meticulous fix of a broken camera -- and installed a new spectrograph that can divine the properties of distant galaxies.Source: Reuters: Science News | 16 May 2009 | 9:10 pm Nigerian army frees hostages, destroys militant camp (Reuters)Reuters - Nigerian security forces said on Saturday they rescued 13 hostages kidnapped this week, including nine foreigners, and destroyed a key militant camp in the heart of Africa's biggest oil industry region.Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 16 May 2009 | 8:29 pm For Health, Recess as Good as Gym ClassNatural short bursts of play energy contribute just as much to a healthy lifestyle as longer bouts of organized exercise.Source: Livescience.com | 16 May 2009 | 2:22 pm
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