Science Headlines for August 9, 2009

'Motion Picture' Of Past Warming Paves Way For Snapshots Of Future Climate Change

By accurately modeling Earth's last major global warming -- and answering pressing questions about its causes -- climatologist are unraveling the intricacies of the kind of abrupt climate shifts that may occur in the future.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 9 Aug 2009 | 3:00 pm

Innovative Method To Detect Genetic Causes Of Complex Diseases Identified

Computational biologists have developed an analytical technique to detect the multiple genetic variations that contribute to complex disease syndromes such as diabetes, asthma and cancer, which are characterized by multiple clinical and molecular traits.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 9 Aug 2009 | 3:00 pm

What Makes Stem Cells Tick?

Investigators have made the first comparative, large-scale phosphoproteomic analysis of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and their differentiated derivatives.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 9 Aug 2009 | 3:00 pm

Looking Different 'Helps Animals To Survive'

In the animal kingdom, everything is not as it seems. Individuals of the same species can look very different from each other -- what biologists term "polymorphism." Sometimes the number of distinct visible forms -- "exuberant polymorphisms" -- in a single animal population can reach double figures. But why? Scientists have now developed computer models that may help to explain how this level of variation arises and persists.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 9 Aug 2009 | 3:00 pm

Children With Positive Outlooks Are Better Learners

Teaching children how to be more resilient along with regular classroom instruction can improve children's outlook on life, curb depression and boost grades, according to a new research.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 9 Aug 2009 | 3:00 pm

Scientists Find Cells Responsible For Bladder Cancer's Spread

Scientists have tracked down a powerful set of cells in bladder tumors that seem to be primarily responsible for the cancer's growth and spread using a technique that takes advantage of similarities between tumor and organ growth. The findings could help scientists develop new ways of finding and attacking similar cells in other types of cancer.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 9 Aug 2009 | 3:00 pm

Chemists Discover Ozone-boosting Reaction: Newfound Chemistry Should Be Added To Atmospheric Models, Experts Say

Burning of fossil fuels pumps chemicals into the air that react on surfaces such as buildings and roads to create photochemical smog-forming chlorine atoms, scientists report in a new study. The newfound chemistry should be added to atmospheric models, researchers say.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 9 Aug 2009 | 9:00 am

Ambitious New Strategies Proposed For AIDS Vaccine Research

Researchers believe conventional vaccine strategies should not be the only avenue explored in the development of an effective AIDS vaccine. Based on studying simian immunodeficiency viruses in African nonhuman primates, they propose an additional new approach to the AIDS vaccine research agenda. Unraveling how African nonhuman primates adapt to HIV-like viruses may lead to vaccine.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 9 Aug 2009 | 9:00 am

Unraveling How Cells Respond To Low Oxygen

Scientists have elucidated how the stability of the REDD1 protein is regulated. The REDD1 protein is a critical inhibitor of the mTOR signaling pathway, which controls cell growth and proliferation.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 9 Aug 2009 | 9:00 am

Primate Archaeology Sheds Light On Human Origins

Archaeologists are now establishing a discipline devoted to the history of tool use in non-human primate species in order to better understand human evolution.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 9 Aug 2009 | 9:00 am

The Nation's Weather (AP)

AP - Heavy rain and thunderstorms are forecast for the Central Plains through the Great Lakes on Sunday. There is a slight chance of severe weather from eastern Nebraska through western New York, including thunderstorms that could produce tornadoes.
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 9 Aug 2009 | 4:24 am

Air quality poorer in Malaysia's Borneo (AFP)

AFP - Air quality in Malaysia's Sarawak state on Borneo island edged towards "very unhealthy" levels of pollution Sunday as wildfires raged in forests and peat-growing land in the state.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 9 Aug 2009 | 3:06 am

Particle collider: Black hole or crucial machine? (AP)

AP - When launched to great fanfare nearly a year ago, some feared the Large Hadron Collider would create a black hole that would suck in the world. It turns out the Hadron may be the black hole.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 9 Aug 2009 | 12:29 am

Hawaii closing beaches as Hurricane Felicia nears (AP)

AP - Several beach parks on Hawaii's Big Island will be closed beginning Sunday afternoon because of Hurricane Felicia, which is expected to increase wave heights as it approaches land, Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency officials said Saturday.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 8 Aug 2009 | 11:17 pm

Why 'Willy' Could Never Be Free (LiveScience.com)

LiveScience.com - In 1998, with much fanfare, a 20-year-old orca named Keiko took a one-way trip on an Air Force cargo plane from Oregon to Iceland. There, attended by dozens of biologists and trainers, and at a cost reportedly topping $20 million, the orca was gradually reintroduced to his native waters.
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 8 Aug 2009 | 9:44 pm

Climate change to challenge US military: report (AFP)

AFP - Climate change will pose profound strategic challenges to the United States in coming decades, raising the prospect of military intervention to deal with the effects of violent storms, drought, mass migration and pandemics, The New York Times reported.