Fishy Sixth Sense: Mathematical Keys To Fascinating Sense Organ

Biophysicists in Germany are leading an effort to develop and apply models of the so-called lateral-line system found in fish and some amphibians. This sensory organ enables an animal, even in murky water, to map its surroundings and recognize other animals. In a new study, the researchers report mathematical models that capture essential elements of the system, agree with experimental data, and could be easy to implement technically, as in robots.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 30 Aug 2009 | 3:00 pm

'Fatostatin' Is A Turnoff For Fat Genes

A small molecule earlier found to have both anti-fat and anti-cancer abilities works as a literal turnoff for fat-making genes, according to a new report.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 30 Aug 2009 | 3:00 pm

How Cities Mimic Life: Megacities Breathe, Consume Energy, Excrete Wastes And Pollute

A scientific trend to view the world's biggest cities as analogous to living, breathing organisms is fostering a deep new understanding of how poor air quality in megacities can harm residents, people living far downwind and also play a major role in global climate change.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 30 Aug 2009 | 3:00 pm

Depression And Anxiety Affect Up To 15 Percent Of Preschoolers, Canadian Study Finds

Almost 15 percent of preschoolers have atypically high levels of depression and anxiety, according to a new Canadian study. The five-year investigation also found that children with atypically high depression and anxiety levels are more likely to have mothers with a history of depression.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 30 Aug 2009 | 3:00 pm

First Close Look At Stimulated Brain

With the aid of optical imaging technology, researchers have for the first time been able to see how neurons react to electrical stimulation. The neural response to electrical currents isn't localized, as some had previously thought. Rather, electrical stimulation activates a scattered and widely distributed set of neurons.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 30 Aug 2009 | 3:00 pm

Baby's MP3 Heart Monitor: New Safe Approach To Fetal Heart Monitoring Could Save Lives

A new type of fetal heart monitor could save the lives of unborn infants in complicated pregnancies, according to researchers.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 30 Aug 2009 | 3:00 pm

More Accurate Interpretation Of Brain Imaging Data

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a technique widely used in studying the human brain. However, it has long been unclear exactly how fMRI signals are generated at brain cell level. This information is crucially important to interpreting these imaging signals. Scientists in Finland have discovered that astrocytes, support cells in brain tissue, play a key role in the generation of fMRI signals.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 30 Aug 2009 | 9:00 am

Star-birth Myth 'Busted'

Astronomers have debunked one of astronomy's long held beliefs about how stars are formed, using a set of galaxies found with CSIRO's Parkes radio telescope. When a cloud of interstellar gas collapses to form stars, the stars range from massive to minute. Since the 1950s astronomers have thought that in a family of new-born stars the ratio of massive stars to lighter ones was always pretty much the same — for instance, that for every star 20 times more massive than the Sun or larger, you’d get 500 stars the mass of the Sun or less.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 30 Aug 2009 | 9:00 am

Simple Test May Identify Stroke Survivors At Risk Of Another Cardiovascular Event

Measuring blood flow in the ankle may identify stroke survivors at risk of subsequent events. This test, the ankle brachial index, compares blood flow in the ankle to blood flow in the arm to detect poor circulation caused by fatty plaque buildup in the lower body, a condition known as peripheral artery disease.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 30 Aug 2009 | 9:00 am

Who Are You? Mobile ID Devices Find Out Using NIST Guidelines

A new publication that recommends best practices for the next generation of portable biometric acquisition devices -- Mobile ID -- has been published by NIST.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 30 Aug 2009 | 9:00 am

Shuttle steers closer to space station for hookup (AP)

Space shuttle Discovery lifts-off from the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Fla. Friday Aug. 28, 2009. Discovery and a crew of seven will deliver supplies and equipment to the International Space Station. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)AP - Space shuttle Discovery's astronauts steered closer to the international space station for a Sunday linkup, while checking their ship for any signs of launch damage.



Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 30 Aug 2009 | 2:31 am

UN meeting: help nations adapt to global warming (AP)

Environmental activists display effigies of, from left to right, U.S. President Barack Obama, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi during a demonstration calling for the world leaders to take immediate action against climate change in Jakarta, Indonesia, Saturday, Aug. 29, 2009. The demonstration marked he hundred days countdown to the U.N. climate change summit that will be held in Copenhagen in December. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)AP - As nations negotiate tough decisions on cutting greenhouse gases, the United Nations is holding a separate conference on coping with more floods, droughts and other effects of climate change already assured.



Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 30 Aug 2009 | 1:33 am

US shuttle Discovery closes in on space station (AFP)

The space shuttle Discovery, seen on its way to the International Space Station after blasting off from the Kennedy Space Center on a 13-day mission to equip to space outpost.(AFP/Bruce Weaver)AFP - The US shuttle Discovery chased the International Space Station to deliver a treadmill, food and a laboratory freezer to the orbiting outpost.



Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 30 Aug 2009 | 1:05 am

Melting glaciers threaten 'Nepal tsunami' (AFP)

The world's tallest mountain Mount Everest is seen in front of Khumbu Glacier, one of the longest glaciers in the world. Nepal has more than 2,300 glacial lakes and experts say at least 20 are in danger of bursting.(AFP/Subel Bhandari)AFP - Over two decades, Funuru Sherpa has watched the lake above his native village of Dengboche in Nepal's Himalayas grow, as the glacier that feeds it melts.



Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 29 Aug 2009 | 11:36 pm

Kenya's hippos hard hit by drought (AFP)

A group of hippos bathe in a shallow pool of water in the Tsavo West National Park, in southern Kenya. Kenya's persistant and bruising drought is having a serious impact on the country's wildlife, one of its main tourist attractions, obliging the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) to feed hippos to keep them alive.(AFP/File/Roberto Schmidt)AFP - Kenya's persistent and bruising drought is having a serious impact on the country's wildlife, one of its main tourist attractions, obliging the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) to feed hippos to keep them alive.



Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 29 Aug 2009 | 11:27 pm

A new political generation rises in East Timor (Reuters)

Reuters - As a student activist in Jakarta, Avelino Coelho da Silva sought refuge in the Austrian embassy to avoid capture by Indonesian troops. Now as East Timor's Secretary of State for Energy Policy, he installs solar power in villages.
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 29 Aug 2009 | 11:06 pm

Astronauts Inspect Space Shuttle for Damage (SPACE.com)

SPACE.com - Astronauts aboard the space shuttle Discovery inspected their spacecraft's vital heat shield for damage today as they chase down the International Space Station for a Sunday rendezvous.
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 29 Aug 2009 | 10:32 pm

Space shuttle Discovery launched after days of delays

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Space shuttle Discovery rocketed into orbit early on Saturday, carrying lab equipment, supplies, spare parts, genetically altered mice and a new crewmember to the International Space Station.

Source: Reuters: Science News | 29 Aug 2009 | 11:50 am

Four Years Later, New Orleans' Green Makeover (Time.com)

Time.com - After Hurricane Katrina flattened New Orleans on Aug. 29, 2005, the city emerged as an inadvertent symbol of global warming, the first American victim of climate change
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 29 Aug 2009 | 10:45 am

India loses contact with its first moon mission

BANGALORE, India (Reuters) - India has lost all contact with an unmanned spacecraft conducting its first moon mission, the national space agency said on Saturday.

Source: Reuters: Science News | 29 Aug 2009 | 8:03 am

India loses communication with lunar satellite (AP)

FILE - In this Sept. 18, 2008 file photo, The Chandrayaan 1 spacecraft, India's first unmanned mission to the Moon, is seen as it is unveiled at the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) Satellite Center in Bangalore, India. Scientists at India's national space agency said Saturday, Aug. 29, 2009, that all communication links with the country's only satellite orbiting the moon have snapped and they were unable to send commands to the spacecraft. Radio contact with Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft was abruptly lost early Saturday, said a statement issued by the Indian Space Research Organization. (AP Photo/File)AP - India's national space agency said communications with the country's only satellite orbiting the moon snapped Saturday and that its scientists were no longer controlling the spacecraft.



Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 29 Aug 2009 | 7:46 am

British firm opens oil field in India (AFP)

A Cairn employee pictured in Rajasthan, India. Britain?s Cairn Energy has begun pumping crude from a vast oilfield in the Indian desert state of Rajasthan that is set to increase the country's crude output by 20 percent.(AFP/HO/File)AFP - Britain?s Cairn Energy on Saturday began pumping crude from a vast oilfield in the Indian desert state of Rajasthan that is set to increase the country's crude output by 20 percent.



Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 29 Aug 2009 | 6:38 am

India loses Moon satellite links

All communication links with the only Indian satellite orbiting the Moon are lost, India's space agency says.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 29 Aug 2009 | 6:11 am