To remember the good times, reach for the sky

Simple motor actions, like moving marbles upward or downward between two cardboard boxes, may not seem meaningful. But a new study shows that motor actions can partly determine people's emotional memories. Moving marbles upward caused participants to remember more positive life experiences, and moving them downward to remember more negative experiences. ‘Meaningless’ motor actions can make people remember the good times or the bad.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 8 Mar 2010 | 9:00 am

Predicting the fate of stem cells: New method decodes cell movements, accurately predicts how cells will divide

Researchers have discovered a new method for predicting -- with up to 99 percent accuracy -- the fate of stem cells. Using advanced computer vision technology to detect subtle cell movements that are impossible to discern with the human eye, scientists can successfully forecast how a stem cell will split and what key characteristics the daughter cells will exhibit.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 8 Mar 2010 | 9:00 am

Most early-stage breast cancer patients may not need radiation after mastectomy

Breast cancer patients with early stage disease that has spread to only one lymph node may not benefit from radiation after mastectomy, because of the low present-day risk of recurrence following modern surgery and systemic therapy, a finding that could one day change the course of treatment for thousands of women diagnosed each year, according to researchers.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 8 Mar 2010 | 9:00 am

Ritalin boosts learning by increasing brain plasticity

Doctors treat millions of children with Ritalin every year to improve their ability to focus on tasks, but scientists now report that Ritalin also directly enhances the speed of learning.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 8 Mar 2010 | 9:00 am

NASA's Fermi probes 'dragons' of the gamma-ray sky

One of the pleasures of perusing ancient maps is locating regions so poorly explored that mapmakers warned of dragons and sea monsters. Now, astronomers using NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope find themselves in the same situation as cartographers of old. A new study of the ever-present fog of gamma rays from sources outside our galaxy shows that less than a third of the emission arises from what astronomers once considered the most likely suspects -- black-hole-powered jets from active galaxies.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 8 Mar 2010 | 9:00 am

Archaeologists amend written history of China's first emperor

Researchers have integrated textual information with archaeological research in order to further understand the impact of the reign of China's first emperor.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 8 Mar 2010 | 9:00 am

Stickleback genomes shining bright light on evolution

Twenty billion pieces of DNA in 100 small fish have opened the eyes of biologists studying evolution. After combining new technologies, researchers now know many of the genomic regions that allowed an ocean-dwelling fish to adapt to fresh water in several independently evolved populations.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 8 Mar 2010 | 6:00 am

Food allergy-related disorder linked to master allergy gene

Scientists have identified a region of a human chromosome that is associated with eosinophilic esophagitis, a recently recognized allergic disease. People with EoE frequently have difficulty eating or may be allergic to one or more foods. This study further suggests that a suspected so-called master allergy gene may play a role in the development of this rare but debilitating disorder.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 8 Mar 2010 | 6:00 am

New energy source from the common pea: Scientists create a solar energy device from a plant protein structure

Isolating the minute crystals of the PSI super complex from the pea plant, a biochemistry researcher suggests these crystals can be illuminated and used as small battery chargers or form the core of more efficient man-made solar cells.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 8 Mar 2010 | 6:00 am

An improved method for calculating tumor growth

When treating cancer, it is an advantage to know the rate of growth of the cancer tumor. The standard method currently used to determine tumor growth, however, is erroneous, according to researchers who have developed a new model.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 8 Mar 2010 | 6:00 am

Working outdoors reduces men's risk of kidney cancer

Research shows vitamin D, produced by skin when exposed to ultraviolet light, associated with reduced rate of renal cancer

Men who work outdoors, enabling their bodies to create vitamins through exposure to sunlight, have a reduced risk of kidney cancer, researchers said today.

In the largest study of its kind, scientists found that vitamin D – produced by the skin when exposed to ultraviolet light – was associated with a reduced rate of renal cancer of up to 73% among men.

However, the study, published by the American Cancer Society, found that the reduced risk only applied to men – there was no drop in renal cancer among the women studied who worked outdoors.

The researchers, from the National Cancer Institute in the US, said the study of 2,500 workers in central Europe supported emerging evidence that the prevalence of a number of cancers, including breast, ovarian and colorectal cancer, was lower when people were exposed to ultraviolet light.

They said vitamin D, a known anti-carcinogenic, was carried by the body to the liver and on to the kidneys, and recommended further research.

"Scientific evidence suggests that vitamin D, which is generally made in the body after exposure to the sunlight, may help prevent a number of diseases including cancer," the research author, Sara Karami, said.

"In our study, we used job titles to estimate sunlight exposure at work. We observed that men with high estimated levels of sunlight exposure had a lower risk of kidney cancer than men who had lower estimated sunlight exposure at work."

Scientists have monitored an increase in renal cell carcinoma (RCC), the main form of kidney cancer, in the US and globally over the past 20 years.

A reduction in vitamin D – probably caused by many more people having sedentary lifestyles and indoor jobs – is believed to be likely to be a contributory factor.

The researchers studied more than 2,500 workers of Caucasian descent in Russia, Romania, Poland and the Czech Republic, splitting them into three groups according to exposure to daylight in their jobs.

A significant fall of up to 38% in the risk of RCC was found with increasing occupational UV exposure among men.

In northernmost regions, that increased to a 73% drop – but after finding no similar decrease in risk for women, Karami said: "We do not have an explanation for the apparent differences in risk between men and women."

"Biological or behavioural differences between men and women may play a role. For example, hormonal differences may influence the body's response to sunlight exposure, and men may be prone to working outdoors while shirtless."

Although some foods contain vitamin D, the majority of people receive up to 90% of the chemical through exposure to ultraviolet light.

Farm workers and those who receive strong UV light reflected from the sea were in the highest category. Those in high sunlight jobs were assumed to receive double the intensity of sunlight to those in low exposure jobs.

Despite the findings, the researchers warned against ignoring the "well-documented risks" of skin cancer resulting from excess exposure to the sun.

"There are no public health recommendations from this study. Men and women should continue to consult their health care providers regarding the appropriate amount of sun exposure, weighing the well-documented risks between sun exposure and skin cancer risk," Karami added.

Healthy Caucasians can generate a full dose of vitamin D with 10-20 minutes exposure to strong sunlight on unprotected skin. After that, photo-degradation ensures no higher levels are created.

The anti-carcinogenic properties of vitamin D include the prevention of tumour cell replication.

Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 8 Mar 2010 | 2:11 am

Bonobos opt to share their food

One of our closest primate relatives, the bonobo, prefers to share its food rather than dine alone, scientists report.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 8 Mar 2010 | 1:58 am

Sleep Habits Revealed in New Survey

A new sleep survey reveals our sleep habits and differences between ethnic groups.
Source: Livescience.com | 8 Mar 2010 | 12:17 am

Shell, PetroChina bid for Australian gas company (AFP)

AFP - Royal Dutch Shell and PetroChina joined forces for a 2.96 billion US dollar bid for Australia's Arrow Energy on Monday, hoping for a bigger slice of the country's booming liquefied natural gas (LNG) sector.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 8 Mar 2010 | 12:01 am

Sleep Habits Revealed in New Survey (LiveScience.com)

LiveScience.com - African-Americans and Hispanics are 10 times more likely to report having sex about every night than Asians, who seem to get the best sleep, according to a new poll by the National Sleep Foundation.
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 7 Mar 2010 | 11:25 pm

Climate Myths and Questions, Part I

This week, Discovery Earth is focusing on the science of climate change. To that end, to help clarify some of the misunderstandings and misrepresentations of a number of climate change issues, we will be looking at a selection of the ...
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 7 Mar 2010 | 8:00 pm

National Broadband Plan Crucial For 'Smart' Power Grids

National Broadband Plan to wire U.S. for high speed Internet access is key for effective smart grid to reduce energy consumption.
Source: Livescience.com | 7 Mar 2010 | 6:06 pm

Science Weekly: Are Britain's libel laws stifling science worldwide?

Science writer Simon Singh and Tracey Brown from Sense About Science tell us about Libel Reform Week and the campaign to change Britain's libel laws and protect scientific freedom of expression.

Simon is currently locked in a legal battle over a comment piece published in the Guardian.

Matthew Applegate, aka Pixelh8, is performing an audiovisual study as part of Cambridge Science Festival. We went along to the Institute of Astronomy to hear the telescopes he used as his musical instruments.

Ian Sample speaks to Kees van Deemter about the importance of being vague. Kees is trying to program computers to be a little more ... erm ... fuzzy? His new book Not Exactly: In Praise of Vagueness is out now.

The Guardian's Nell Boase joins Alok in the studio.

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Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 7 Mar 2010 | 5:01 pm

Hiding place for HIV revealed

The AIDS virus escapes treatment inside progenitor blood cells.<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/news/rss/today/~4/xOwjLjJ7zlo" height="1" width="1"/>
Source: NatureNews - All articles published today - nature.com science feeds | 7 Mar 2010 | 4:00 pm

Humans are driving extinction faster than species can evolve

Conservationists say rate of new species slower than diversity loss caused by the destruction of habitats and climate change

For the first time since the dinosaurs disappeared, humans are driving animals and plants to extinction faster than new species can evolve, one of the world's experts on biodiversity has warned.

Conservation experts have already signalled that the world is in the grip of the "sixth great extinction" of species, driven by the destruction of natural habitats, hunting, the spread of alien predators and disease, and climate change.

However until recently it has been hoped that the rate at which new species were evolving could keep pace with the loss of diversity of life.

Speaking in advance of two reports next week on the state of wildlife in Britain and Europe, Simon Stuart, chair of the Species Survival Commission for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature – the body which officially declares species threatened and extinct – said that point had now "almost certainly" been crossed.

"Measuring the rate at which new species evolve is difficult, but there's no question that the current extinction rates are faster than that; I think it's inevitable," said Stuart.

The IUCN created shock waves with its major assessment of the world's biodiversity in 2004, which calculated that the rate of extinction had reached 100-1,000 times that suggested by the fossil records before humans.

No formal calculations have been published since, but conservationists agree the rate of loss has increased since then, and Stuart said it was possible that the dramatic predictions of experts like the renowned Harvard biologist E O Wilson, that the rate of loss could reach 10,000 times the background rate in two decades, could be correct.

"All the evidence is he's right," said Stuart. "Some people claim it already is that ... things can only have deteriorated because of the drivers of the losses, such as habitat loss and climate change, all getting worse. But we haven't measured extinction rates again since 2004 and because our current estimates contain a tenfold range there has to be a very big deterioration or improvement to pick up a change."

Extinction is part of the constant evolution of life, and only 2-4% of the species that have ever lived on Earth are thought to be alive today. However fossil records suggest that for most of the planet's 3.5bn year history the steady rate of loss of species is thought to be about one in every million species each year.

Only 869 extinctions have been formally recorded since 1500, however, because scientists have only "described" nearly 2m of an estimated 5-30m species around the world, and only assessed the conservation status of 3% of those, the global rate of extinction is extrapolated from the rate of loss among species which are known. In this way the IUCN calculated in 2004 that the rate of loss had risen to 100-1,000 per millions species annually – a situation comparable to the five previous "mass extinctions" – the last of which was when the dinosaurs were wiped out about 65m years ago.

Critics, including The Skeptical Environmentalist author, Bjørn Lomborg, have argued that because such figures rely on so many estimates of the number of underlying species and the past rate of extinctions based on fossil records of marine animals, the huge margins for error make these figures too unreliable to form the basis of expensive conservation actions.

However Stuart said that the IUCN figure was likely to be an underestimate of the problem, because scientists are very reluctant to declare species extinct even when they have sometimes not been seen for decades, and because few of the world's plants, fungi and invertebrates have yet been formally recorded and assessed.

The calculated increase in the extinction rate should also be compared to another study of thresholds of resilience for the natural world by Swedish scientists, who warned that anything over 10 times the background rate of extinction – 10 species in every million per year – was above the limit that could be tolerated if the world was to be safe for humans, said Stuart.

"No one's claiming it's as small as 10 times," he said. "There are uncertainties all the way down; the only thing we're certain about is the extent is way beyond what's natural and it's getting worse."

Many more species are "discovered" every year around the world, than are recorded extinct, but these "new" plants and animals are existing species found by humans for the first time, not newly evolved species.

In addition to extinctions, the IUCN has listed 208 species as "possibly extinct", some of which have not been seen for decades. Nearly 17,300 species are considered under threat, some in such small populations that only successful conservation action can stop them from becoming extinct in future. This includes one-in-five mammals assessed, one-in-eight birds, one-in-three amphibians, and one-in-four corals.

Later this year the Convention on Biological Diversity is expected to formally declare that the pledge by world leaders in 2002 to reduce the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010 has not been met, and to agree new, stronger targets.

Despite the worsening problem, and the increasing threat of climate change, experts stress that understanding of the problems which drive plants and animals to extinction has improved greatly, and that targeted conservation can be successful in saving species from likely extinction in the wild.

This year has been declared the International Year of Biodiversity and it is also hoped that a major UN report this summer, on the economics of ecosystems and biodiversity, will encourage governments to devote more funds to conservation.

Professor Norman MacLeod, keeper of palaeontology at the Natural History Museum in London, cautioned that when fossil experts find evidence of a great extinction it can appear in a layer of rock covering perhaps 10,000 years, so they cannot say for sure if there was a sudden crisis or a build up of abnormally high extinction rates over centuries or millennia.

For this reason, the "mathematical artefacts" of extinction estimates were not sufficient to be certain about the current state of extinction, said MacLeod.

"If things aren't falling dead at your feel that doesn't mean you're not in the middle of a big extinction event," he said. "By the same token if the extinctions are and remain relatively modest then the changes, [even] aggregated over many years, are still going to end up a relatively modest extinction event."

Species on the brink of being declared extinct

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists 208 species as "possibly extinct", more than half of which are amphibians. They are defined as species which are "on the balance of evidence likely to be extinct, but for which there is a small chance that they may still be extant".

Kouprey (or Grey ox; Bos sauveli)

What: Wild cattle with horns that live in small herds

Domain: Mostly Cambodia; also Laos, Vietnam, Thailand

Population: No first-hand sightings since 1969

Main threats: hunting for meat and trade, livestock diseases and habitat destruction

Webbed-footed coqui (or stream coqui; Eleutherodactylus karlschmidti)

What: Large black frog living in mountain streams

Domain: East and west Puerto Rico

Population: Not seen since 1976

Main threats: Disease (chytridiomycosis), climate change and invasive predators

Golden coqui frog (Eleutherodactylus jasperi)

What: Small orange frog living in forest or open rocky areas

Domain: Sierra de Cayey, Puerto Rico

Population: No sightings since 1981

Main threats: Unknown but suspected habitat destruction, climate change, disease (chytridiomycosis) and invasive predators

Spix's macaw (or little blue macaw; Cyanopsitta spixii)

What: Bright blue birds with long tails and grey/white heads

Domain: Brazil

Population: The last known wild bird disappeared in 2000; there are 78 in captivity

Main threats: Destruction of the birds' favoured Tabebuia caraiba trees for nesting, and trapping

Café marron (Ramosmania rodriguesii)

What: White flowering shrub related to the coffee plant family

Domain: Island of Rodrigues, Republic of Mauritius

Population: A single wild plant is known

Main threats: Habitat loss, introduced grazing animals and alien plants

Source: IUCN and Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. To mark the International Year of Biodiversity, the IUCN is running a daily profile of a threatened species throughout 2010. See iucn.org.

Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 7 Mar 2010 | 3:59 pm

Legend of Meteorology Passes

I’ve had lots of conversations about the weather, but never like this. I was sitting in the living room of Robert and Joanne Simpson – pioneers of meteorology - talking about clouds. They’d positioned their couch so they could view ...
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 7 Mar 2010 | 2:50 pm

Dear Seattle: Remember the Chile Quake

Since the magnitude 8.8 earthquake hit Chile last weekend, folks in the media have been talking a lot about how the Pacific Northwest could have a similar disaster. I'd like to join in this chorus as a sort of public ...
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 7 Mar 2010 | 2:29 pm

Wanted: an eco prophet

People are drifting into a lethal slumber on climate change. More of the same won't wake them up

It's an exceptionally inconvenient truth. Only one American in three believes that human beings are responsible for climate change: a polling result 10% down on where opinion rested the year before. Worse, the number of Americans who believe that climate change is a hoax or a scientific conspiracy – not doubting, just damned blank certain – has doubled since 2008. Add in those who assert that the changes, if any, are of "no significant concern", and you've got 30% of the US denying, scoffing and just walking on by.

Are the issues clearer, the people more committed, here in Britain? Call for the latest evidence from Ipsos Mori – and find that the proportion of UK adults who believe that global warming is "definitely" a reality has plummeted from 44% to 31% in the last 12 months. Figures like these, on both sides of the Atlantic, are getting more sceptical week by week. The real change of electoral climate is that fewer and fewer voters pay any heed to scientists and politicians.

It isn't hard to collate the factors that drive disillusion. Professors with a colloquial touch writing "awful" emails; a recession so tough that it blows future shock away; a cold, cold winter the Met Office didn't forecast; scientific angst about swine flu revealed as way over the top; dodgy figures, dodgy reporting, dodgy issues way up to UN level.

These are only a few of our least favourite things. Mix them together in the stew of pre-election politics, and the result is lethal inertia. Once upon a quite recent time, David Cameron seemed bent on playing a new green giant. Now he's just another family-friendly campaigner, keen on pressing pounds sterling into sweaty palms. Environmental issues have slithered down the greasy pole of public anxiety. They won't get much of a mention on the hustings in May: no fresh commitments, no crucial pledges. In one sense, the heat may by rising; in another, the heat is off.

And that, of course, is cause for very significant concern. Democracies move in particular ways. Voters have to clamber on board when sacrifices are required. They have to see the need for pain, to sense the danger of doing nothing. They have to lead their leaders as well as follow – once they switch off, nothing good happens easily, if at all.

An Obama stalled on healthcare reform in the Senate isn't going to be able to deliver sweeping global warming policies. He may not be George Bush, but he already seems to know when he's on a loser. And, without him, you can write the Chinese or Indian scripts. You can tell that the follow-ups to Copenhagen will be feebler, not stronger: true cause for despair. Kick away any mass impetus for tackling climate change as schedules of imminent necessity fade and review panels plod across the wastelands of borrowed time.

What's to be done (except wait for a natural disaster that ends all argument – and much else besides)? First, through gritted teeth, say what won't work, what's been tried already and failed.

More jaw and Gore from politicians can't cut it. They have come to seem secondhand sources, merely parroting a frail scientific thesis. That goes, alas, for journalists, too – and for pressure groups issuing lurid warnings or staging angry demos. Those of us who are convinced, who believe in the necessity of action, haven't changed our minds. But we're not the point. The audience that matters is out there, sleeping or drifting. And rousing it will demand something different, not more of the same.

Yet more of the same is exactly what we seem to be getting. More re-examinations of existing evidence, monitored by the people who failed to monitor it last time. More supposedly transparent attempts to say precisely when Himalayan glaciers will melt. More United Nations panels, flying lugubriously hither and yon in the cause of consensus. More declarations signed by hundreds of scientists on behalf of a notional "scientific community" (rather like letters to editors from umpteen economists urging cuts or no cuts).

None of it has a ring of renewed confidence. And the plain fact is that we surely need a prophet, not yet another committee. We need one passionate, persuasive scientist who can connect and convince – not because he preaches apocalypse in gory detail, but in simple, overwhelming terms. We need to be taught to believe by a true believer in a world where belief is the fatal, missing ingredient.

Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 7 Mar 2010 | 12:30 pm

Obama to push White House vision for NASA in April (Reuters)

Reuters - President Barack Obama will outline his administration's vision for space agency NASA and an eventual trip to Mars during a conference in Florida in April, the White House said on Sunday.
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 7 Mar 2010 | 11:50 am

Obama to push White House vision for NASA in April

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will outline his administration's vision for space agency NASA and an eventual trip to Mars during a conference in Florida in April, the White House said on Sunday.
Source: Reuters: Science News | 7 Mar 2010 | 11:50 am

Scientists find why "sunshine" vitamin D is crucial

LONDON (Reuters) - Vitamin D is vital in activating human defenses and low levels suffered by around half the world's population may mean their immune systems' killer T cells are poor at fighting infection, scientists said on Sunday.
Source: Reuters: Science News | 7 Mar 2010 | 11:12 am

Swiss voters reject giving abused animals a lawyer (AP)

AP - The result was emphatic: Swiss voters don't think abused animals need to have their own lawyers.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 7 Mar 2010 | 10:59 am

Growing low-oxygen zones in oceans worry scientists (McClatchy Newspapers)

McClatchy Newspapers - WASHINGTON — Lower levels of oxygen in the Earth's oceans, particularly off the United States' Pacific Northwest coast, could be another sign of fundamental changes linked to global climate change, scientists say.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 7 Mar 2010 | 10:01 am

At least 7 die in snow-linked accidents in Germany (AP)

AP - Heavy snowfall in parts of Germany triggered a deadly avalanche and caused thousands of accidents, leaving at least seven people dead and dozens more injured, police said Sunday.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 7 Mar 2010 | 9:44 am

Ancient Mural Portrays Ordinary Mayans

A Mayan mural shows how the other half lived.
Source: Livescience.com | 7 Mar 2010 | 7:48 am

How to Grow Old Gracefully

Growing old doesn't have to mean developing disability and disease, experts say. Here are some tips for healthy aging.
Source: Livescience.com | 7 Mar 2010 | 7:46 am

The nation's weather (AP)

AP - A low pressure system was forecast to move through Southern California and northern Mexico before moving into the Southwest on Sunday, pulling a tremendous amount of rain into the area. The heaviest precipitation was expected in Arizona and New Mexico, and snow was possible on high ground.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 7 Mar 2010 | 3:39 am