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Growing evidence suggests progesterone should be considered a treatment option for traumatic brain injuriesResearchers recommend that progesterone, a naturally occurring hormone found in both males and females that can protect damaged cells in the central and peripheral nervous systems, be considered a viable treatment option for traumatic brain injuries.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 25 Dec 2009 | 3:00 pm Sun and moon trigger deep tremors on San Andreas FaultWhen the sun and moon are aligned with the San Andreas Fault they tug on it enough to increase the tremor rate deep underground, according to a new study. While these tremors have not yet been linked to earthquakes, the tremors are associated with increased stress on the fault and may increase the risk of future quakes. The ease with which the deep rock slips indicates it is lubricated by high-pressure water.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 25 Dec 2009 | 3:00 pm New inherited eye disease discoveredResearchers have found the existence of a new, rare inherited retinal disease. Now the search is on to find the genetic cause, which investigators hope will increase understanding of more common retinal diseases.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 25 Dec 2009 | 3:00 pm Microscopic flower petal ridges flash to attract pollinating insects; scientists now know how ridges formMicroscopic ridges contouring the surface of flower petals might play a role in flashing that come-hither look pollinating insects can't resist. Scientists now have figured out how those form. The result could help researchers learn to enhance plants' pollination success and even could lead to high-grip nanomaterials and "green chemical" feedstocks.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 25 Dec 2009 | 3:00 pm Weir in space and dimmed sun creates 200-million-mile-long lab bench for turbulence researchPhysicists working in space plasmas have made clever use of the Ulysses spacecraft and the solar minimum to create a massive virtual lab bench to provide a unique test for the science underlying turbulent flows.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 25 Dec 2009 | 3:00 pm Do computers understand art?Mathematical algorithms can provide clues about the artistic style of a painting. The composition of colors or certain aesthetic measurements can already be quantified by a computer, but machines are still far from being able to interpret art in the way that people do.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 25 Dec 2009 | 3:00 pm Cause of nonallergic itch identifiedScratching below the surface of a troublesome sensation that's equal parts tingle-tickle-prickle, sensory scientists have discovered in mice a molecular basis for nonallergic itch.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 25 Dec 2009 | 9:00 am How the brain encodes memories at a cellular levelScientists have made a major discovery in how the brain encodes memories. The finding could eventually lead to the development of new drugs to aid memory.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 25 Dec 2009 | 9:00 am Ski runs are not created equalBuilding a new ski run by bulldozing a mountainside, rather than only cutting its shrubs and trees, is far more damaging ecologically, yet might offer only a week's earlier start to the downhill season, says a new study.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 25 Dec 2009 | 9:00 am Sensitizing leukemic cells to death-inducing compoundsRecent research has indicated that in the process of generating energy, leukemic cells use a cellular pathway known as fatty acid oxidation, rather than pyruvate oxidation, as had been previously thought. A team of researchers has now used this knowledge to develop a way to sensitize human leukemic cells to molecules that induce cell death by a process known as apoptosis.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 25 Dec 2009 | 9:00 am Warming Already Speeding Up Insect Breeding
Summertime and the insect breeding is easy.
Among the 263 species already known to have a second or third generation there during toasty times, 190 have grown more likely to do so since 1980, Altermatt reports online December 22 in Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Only a rough third or so of all the species Altermatt reviewed show the capacity to breed more than once a year. What warming is probably doing for them, he speculates, is jolting the insects’ overwintering form into action early and also speeding up insect development. These head starts may allow time for a bonus generation before a non-temperature cue, atumnal day length, plays its role in shutting down insects for winter. “From a pest perspective it’s an important issue,” says population ecologist Patrick Tobin based in Morgantown, W.Va., for the Forest Service Northern Research Station. Tobin has studied a warmth-related extra generation in a North American pest, the grape berry moth. He points out that an extra surge of attacking pests in the growing season means yet another headache, expense and round of damage for farmers.
Extra insect generations are important for ecosystems too, Tobin says, though predicting those ripples of consequences will be “extraordinarily complex.” An additional generation of insects might boost a population of the predators that feed on them and thus make life tougher for the other species the predators attack. Or an extra annual generation of an endangered insect might give the species an extra push toward recovery. When creatures manage an extra generation in a year, evolutionary processes happen faster, Altermatt says. Those species that do get an extra, successful generation win a little uptick in their chances of adapting. He’s not predicting that the effect will be enough for species to cope with widespread habitat loss or climate change, but, he says, “It’s maybe a little hope.” The possibility for climate-triggered extra generations hasn’t gotten the research attention paid to other kinds of insecty side effects of global change, Tobin says. Insects expanding their ranges northward or upslope have been the focus of more work, in part because data aren’t as scarce. Especially rare are studies of many species over decades. Altermatt based his analyses on field work plus a review of all the museum records and publications of butterflies and moths collected within roughly 30 kilometers of Basel, Switzerland. In researching a book, Altermatt and three colleagues gleaned 182,664 records dating from 1818 to the present and describing a total of 1,117 species of butterfly. Altermatt mined the data for information about reactions to climate change. A long-standing weather station in Basel let researchers check local temperatures for different time periods. Trends followed the recent pronounced warming in Central Europe. There, other researchers have said, mean annual temperature has increased some 1.5 degrees during the last three decades. Altermatt compared insect records before and after that temperature upswing. For species with decent records, he looked for the numbers of butterflies and moths recorded by date. Peak numbers at a particular time gave him the rough date when a new generation was maturing. When he saw multiple peaks in a year, he noted multiple generations. “I can’t say if the generations were successful,” he says. One peril of warming is that, when doing a little extra development, insects may not reach a winter-hardy phase. Image: Common blue butterfly./ Flickr/SouthEastern_Star See Also:
Source: Wired: Wired Science | 25 Dec 2009 | 3:00 am Tug grounds on same reef as Exxon Valdez tanker (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 25 Dec 2009 | 2:55 am The nation's weather (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 25 Dec 2009 | 2:46 am China defends role at Copenhagen (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 25 Dec 2009 | 1:57 am Gifts bring Christmas cheer to Filipino evacuees (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 25 Dec 2009 | 1:33 am Subatomic SnowflakeCheck out Fermilab's 2009 holiday card, featuring a pretty snowflake inspired by... particle tracks? Why, yes, indeed! (h/t: Symmetry Breaking) While everyone else was on pins and needles waiting for the Large Hadron Collider to start up again, Fermilab was ...Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 24 Dec 2009 | 11:35 pm Tsunami recovery: numbers tell the tale (AP)AP - On Dec. 26, 2004, a massive undersea earthquake off Indonesia triggered a tsunami that killed 230,000 people in 14 Asian and African countries.Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 24 Dec 2009 | 10:00 pm Research Reveals How Breast Cancer Rearranges Genome (HealthDay)HealthDay - THURSDAY, Dec. 24 (HealthDay News) -- An analysis of breast cancer genomes has provided insight into how the human genome is rearranged when the disease strikes, researchers report.Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 24 Dec 2009 | 9:48 pm Stem Cell Research Gets a Boost From Vitamin C (HealthDay)HealthDay - THURSDAY, Dec. 24 (HealthDay News) -- Vitamin C is often recommended to help fight the common cold and heal wounds, but the antioxidant might have another benefit: it appears to help adult cells generate embryonic-like stem cells, new research suggests.Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 24 Dec 2009 | 9:48 pm 'Switch' could block Huntington'sA "molecular switch" that can prevent Huntington's disease developing is found in mice.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 24 Dec 2009 | 4:59 pm NASA Crashes Helicopter to Test New ShieldA new honeycomb-shaped shield could be used to improve safety in the air and on the road.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 24 Dec 2009 | 11:00 am Hidden Fault Amplified 2004 TsunamiFive years after one of the most devastating natural disasters in history, scientists are beginning to understand what caused this catastrophe.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 24 Dec 2009 | 10:55 am The Christmas cribNativity cribs bask in festive glory these days. A collection of 165 nativity scenes from all over the world is on display at the Sala del Bramante in Piazza del Popolo in Rome until mid-January. The exhibit tells the history ...Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 24 Dec 2009 | 9:31 am SpacemanEurope's Ariane rocket celebrates its 30th birthdaySource: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 24 Dec 2009 | 9:18 am 2 rare Siberian tigers among dead circus cats (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 24 Dec 2009 | 8:53 am Track Santa on Google EarthIt's Christmas Eve and Santa's already making the rounds. Right now the jolly fat man and his trusty reindeer are in Indonesia. How do I know? Because I'm tracking Santa Claus using Google Earth. The folks at Google have partnered ...Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 24 Dec 2009 | 8:47 am Astronauts Get Two Christmases in Space (SPACE.com)SPACE.com - Christmas comes twice to the astronauts aboard the International Space Station this year as the multi-nation crew celebrates the traditional Dec. 25 holiday as well as Russian Orthodox Christmas on Jan. 7.Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 24 Dec 2009 | 8:46 am Star Remnants Retain 'Memory' of Explosions (SPACE.com)SPACE.com - Like the smoke left in the sky after a round of fireworks, debris remaining in the wake of a supernova could reveal exactly how that star exploded even though hundreds or thousands of years have passed.Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 24 Dec 2009 | 8:46 am Friday News Feedbag for December 25th, 2009If this is your first exposure to the Friday News Feedbag...we're glad to have you in the club. Welcome to Feedbag Nation, which stems from our weekly science news podcast that you can subscribe to here on iTunes and chat ...Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 24 Dec 2009 | 8:40 am The First Women in AntarcticaCelebrating first women scientists to travel to Antarctica.Source: Livescience.com | 24 Dec 2009 | 7:15 am Spiders Decorate Webs with OrnamentsAlthough they're probably eating their holiday guests, even spiders appear to getting into the Christmas spirit.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 24 Dec 2009 | 5:30 am Tidal Forces Trigger Tremors on San Andreas Fault
The subtle changes in stress caused by tides in Earth’s crust can trigger small, deep quakes along a seismically active portion of California’s San Andreas fault, a new analysis suggests.
Evidence for the claim comes from earthquake data collected near Cholame, Calif., a tiny town near the southeastern end of a portion of the San Andreas fault where small, deep tremors are common. The study focused on a 110-kilometer-square area around the town where more than 1,700 minor quakes occurred between July 2001 and May 2008, Thomas says.
When analyzing these quakes, she and her colleagues found that the mini-temblors were much more likely to occur at times when tidal stresses tended to shear the fault in the direction that it normally breaks — that is, when the Pacific tectonic plate is being pulled to the north-northwest relative to the North American tectonic plate, which lies to the east of the fault. In a sense, the added stress on a fault poised to slip acts like the straw that breaks the camel’s back. When tidal stresses act in the other direction and therefore tend to relieve stress on the fault, the frequency of small quakes drops substantially. The fault’s extreme sensitivity to small changes in stress suggests that the deep portions of the fault where these small quakes occur is well lubricated, probably by water that is under exceedingly high pressure, the researchers suggest. Previous studies bolster the notion that small changes in stress along faults can set off earthquakes. In December 2004, seismic waves spreading from the tsunami-spawning temblor that occurred off the west coast of Indonesia triggered a flurry of small quakes near Alaska’s Mount Wrangell, a quarter of the way around the globe (SN: 8/27/05, p. 136). Image: USGS See Also:
Source: Wired: Wired Science | 24 Dec 2009 | 4:30 am Chimps use cleavers to chop foodFor the first time, chimps are seen using tools to chop up and reduce food into smaller bite-sized portions.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 24 Dec 2009 | 4:07 am Esa satellite senses Earth's pullEurope's Goce satellite returns remarkable new data on the way the pull of gravity varies across the Earth.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 24 Dec 2009 | 3:06 am Saturn’s Moons Are Cuter Than Sugarplum Fairies
We love Cassini more with every amazing image the intrepid spacecraft sends back from its travels, and this latest treat is no exception. The Cassini imaging team has assembled images of some of Saturn’s moons in action into this sequence, bringing another corner of the solar system to life for us. It’s still unclear to us whether setting the video to Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite adds to or subtracts from its appeal, but that’s what the mute button is for. Our only complaint is that Enceladus doesn’t make an appearance, but we have a separate tribute to our favorite Saturnian moon planned, so stay tuned. Video: NASA/JPL See Also:
Source: Wired: Wired Science | 24 Dec 2009 | 3:00 am
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