ScienceDaily: Top News

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• New class of nanoparticle brings cheaper, lighter solar cells outdoors
• Angry faces back up verbal threats, making them seem more credible
• New England lakes recovering rapidly from acid rain
• Rising tobacco epidemic in Asia linked to elevated risk of death
• Milky Way may bear 100 million life-giving planets
• No limits to human effects on clouds
• Turing Test success marks milestone in computing history
• Quest for long-lasting blood: Scientists developing one-size-fits-all artifical blood
• Beer brewing waste could help bone regeneration
• Iron supplements improve anemia, quality of life for women with heavy periods
• Most breast cancer patients may not be getting enough exercise
• Facing a violent past: Evolution of human ancestors' faces a result of need to weather punches during arguments, study suggests
• Researchers pinpoint new role for enzyme in DNA repair, kidney cancer
• More than just a hill of beans: Phaseolus genome lends insights into nitrogen fixation
• Targeting tumors using silver nanoparticles
• I shouldn't have eaten there: Rats show behavior of 'regret' in choosing the wrong 'restaurant'
• Warming climates intensify greenhouse gas given out by oceans
• Retracing early cultivation steps: Lessons from comparing citrus genomes
• New molecule enables quick drug monitoring
• Quick getaway: How flies escape a looming predator
• Tiny molecule may help battle depression
• Longer telomeres linked to risk of brain cancer: Double-edged sword, gene variants may promote overall health while increasing risk of gliomas
• Endoscope with oxygen sensor detects pancreatic cancer
• Is glaucoma a brain disease? Scientists find that jigsaw effect in glaucoma patients proves it is
• Silent mutations speak up: Multiple silent mutations greatly impact protein translation

New class of nanoparticle brings cheaper, lighter solar cells outdoors Posted: 09 Jun 2014 08:33 AM PDT A new class of solar-sensitive nanoparticle that outshines the current state of the art has been developed and tested by researchers. This new form of solid, stable light-sensitive nanoparticles, called colloidal quantum dots, could lead to cheaper and more flexible solar cells, as well as better gas sensors, infrared lasers, infrared light emitting diodes and more.

Angry faces back up verbal threats, making them seem more credible Posted: 09 Jun 2014 07:28 AM PDT Angry expressions seem to boost the effectiveness of threats without actual aggression, according to research. The findings show that angry expressions lend additional weight to a negotiator's threat to walk away from the table if his or her demands aren't met, leading the other party in the negotiation to offer more money than they otherwise would have.

New England lakes recovering rapidly from acid rain Posted: 09 Jun 2014 07:28 AM PDT Policy makers have been working to reduce acid rain, a serious environmental problem that can devastate lakes, streams, and forests and the plants and animals that live in these ecosystems, for the past 40 years. Now new research indicates that lakes in New England and the Adirondack Mountains are recovering rapidly from the effects of acid rain.

Rising tobacco epidemic in Asia linked to elevated risk of death Posted: 09 Jun 2014 07:26 AM PDT Tobacco smoking has been linked to approximately 2 million deaths among adult men and women in Asia in recent years and new research predicts a rising death toll. Roughly 60 percent of the world's population lives in Asia where approximately half of men are tobacco smokers.

Milky Way may bear 100 million life-giving planets Posted: 09 Jun 2014 07:07 AM PDT There are some 100 million other places in the Milky Way galaxy that could support complex life, according to new research by astronomers. They have developed a new computation method to examine data from planets orbiting other stars in the universe.

No limits to human effects on clouds Posted: 09 Jun 2014 06:39 AM PDT Atmospheric particles affect cloud formation in real time, researchers suggest. Clouds need tiny particles called aerosols that rise in the atmosphere, in order to form. These aerosols -- natural ones like sea salt or dust, or such human-made ones as soot -- form nuclei around which the cloud droplets condense. In relatively clean environments, clouds can only grow as large as the amount of aerosols in the atmosphere allows: These will be the limiting factor in cloud formation.

Turing Test success marks milestone in computing history Posted: 09 Jun 2014 06:38 AM PDT An historic milestone in artificial intelligence set by Alan Turing -- the father of modern computer science -- has been achieved. The 65 year-old iconic Turing Test was passed for the very first time by supercomputer Eugene Goostman during Turing Test 2014 held at the Royal Society in London on June 7, 2014. 'Eugene', a computer program that simulates a 13-year-old boy, managed to convince 33% of the human judges that it was human.

Quest for long-lasting blood: Scientists developing one-size-fits-all artifical blood Posted: 09 Jun 2014 06:38 AM PDT Scientists are hoping to develop a one-size-fits-all, third generation artificial blood substitute. Every day thousands of people around the world have their lives saved or improved thanks to someone giving blood. But imagine how many more lives could be saved if a long-lasting blood substitute could be found, which could easily be stored at room temperature and available to all patients, regardless of their blood type.

Beer brewing waste could help bone regeneration Posted: 09 Jun 2014 06:38 AM PDT Biomaterials for bone regeneration have been developed by researchers from beer brewing waste. The waste obtained from the beer brewing process contains the main chemical components found in bones (phosphorus, calcium, magnesium and silica), that after undergoing modification processes, this waste can be used as support or scaffold to promote bone regeneration for medical applications such as coating prosthesis or bone grafts, researchers report.

Iron supplements improve anemia, quality of life for women with heavy periods Posted: 09 Jun 2014 06:38 AM PDT Diagnosis and treatment of anemia is important to improve quality of life among women with heavy periods, researchers report. Findings suggest clinicians screen for anemia and recommend iron supplementation to women with heavy menstrual bleeding (menorrhagia).

Most breast cancer patients may not be getting enough exercise Posted: 09 Jun 2014 06:38 AM PDT Physical activity after breast cancer diagnosis has been linked with prolonged survival and improved quality of life, but most participants in a large breast cancer study did not meet national physical activity guidelines after they were diagnosed. Moreover, African-American women were less likely to meet the guidelines than white women. The findings indicate that efforts to promote physical activity in breast cancer patients may need to be significantly enhanced.

Facing a violent past: Evolution of human ancestors' faces a result of need to weather punches during arguments, study suggests Posted: 09 Jun 2014 06:36 AM PDT An alternative to the previous long-held hypothesis that the evolution of the robust faces of our early ancestors resulted largely from the need to chew hard-to-crush foods such as nuts has been presented by researchers. The prehistoric version of a bar fight -- over women, resources and other slug-worthy disagreements -- are what shaped our facial evolution, new research suggests.

Researchers pinpoint new role for enzyme in DNA repair, kidney cancer Posted: 09 Jun 2014 06:36 AM PDT The enzyme Set2 is a major player in DNA repair, a complicated and crucial process that can lead to the development of cancer cells if the repair goes wrong. "We found that if Set2 is mutated, DNA repair does not properly occur" said one researcher. "One consequence could be that if you have broken DNA, then loss of this enzyme could lead to downstream mutations from inefficient repair. We believe this finding helps explain why the human version of Set2 -- which is called SETD2 -- is frequently mutated in cancer."

More than just a hill of beans: Phaseolus genome lends insights into nitrogen fixation Posted: 08 Jun 2014 12:27 PM PDT Research into the common bean has been pursued because of its importance in enhancing nitrogen use efficiency for bioenergy crops sustainability, and for increasing plant resilience and productivity in the face of the changing climate and environment. To this end, a team of researchers sequenced and analyzed the genome of the common bean, Phaseolus vulgaris.

Targeting tumors using silver nanoparticles Posted: 08 Jun 2014 12:27 PM PDT A nanoparticle that has a couple of unique -- and important -- properties has been designed by scientists. Spherical in shape and silver in composition, it is encased in a shell coated with a peptide that enables it to target tumor cells. What's more, the shell is etchable so those nanoparticles that don't hit their target can be broken down and eliminated.

I shouldn't have eaten there: Rats show behavior of 'regret' in choosing the wrong 'restaurant' Posted: 08 Jun 2014 12:27 PM PDT New research reveals that rats show signs of 'regret' -- a cognitive behavior once thought to be uniquely and fundamentally human. To measure the cognitive behavior of regret, scientists developed a task that asked rats how long they were willing to wait for certain foods. In this task, the rats are presented with a series of food options but have limited time at each 'restaurant.'

Warming climates intensify greenhouse gas given out by oceans Posted: 08 Jun 2014 12:27 PM PDT Rising global temperatures could increase the amount of carbon dioxide naturally released by the world's oceans, fueling further climate change, a study suggests. Scientists studied a 26,000-year-old sediment core to find out how the ocean's ability to take up atmospheric CO2 has changed over time, and found that when silicon was least abundant in ocean waters corresponded with relatively warm climates, low levels of atmospheric iron, and reduced CO2 uptake by the oceans' plankton.

Retracing early cultivation steps: Lessons from comparing citrus genomes Posted: 08 Jun 2014 12:27 PM PDT Citrus is the world's most widely cultivated fruit crop but it is now under attack from citrus greening, an insidious emerging infectious disease destroying entire orchards. Researchers worldwide are mobilizing to apply genomic tools and approaches to understand how citrus varieties arose and how they respond to disease and other stresses. An international consortium of researchers analyzed and compared the genome sequences of ten diverse citrus varieties.

New molecule enables quick drug monitoring Posted: 08 Jun 2014 12:27 PM PDT A molecule that can easily and quickly show how much drug is in a patient's system has been invented by scientists. The molecule, now the basis of a start-up company, is expected to enable point-of-care therapeutic drug monitoring. "This system is a cheap, effective solution for customizing drug dosage in patients across a whole array of diseases," says one of the authors.

Quick getaway: How flies escape a looming predator Posted: 08 Jun 2014 12:25 PM PDT Every millisecond counts when a fruit fly is being hunted by a damselfly. Scientists find that fruit flies can deploy two escape behaviors, depending on circumstances. New research reveals how a quick-escape circuit in the fly's brain overrides the fly's slower, more controlled behavior when a threat becomes urgent.

Tiny molecule may help battle depression Posted: 08 Jun 2014 12:25 PM PDT Levels of a small molecule found only in humans and in other primates are lower in the brains of depressed individuals, according to researchers. This discovery may hold a key to improving treatment options for those who suffer from depression. The discovery may provide "a potential target for the development of new and more effective antidepressant treatments," one researcher notes.

Longer telomeres linked to risk of brain cancer: Double-edged sword, gene variants may promote overall health while increasing risk of gliomas Posted: 08 Jun 2014 12:25 PM PDT New genomic research reveals that two common gene variants that lead to longer telomeres, the caps on chromosome ends thought by many scientists to confer health by protecting cells from aging, also significantly increase the risk of developing the deadly brain cancers known as gliomas.

Endoscope with oxygen sensor detects pancreatic cancer Posted: 06 Jun 2014 07:21 AM PDT An optical blood oxygen sensor attached to an endoscope is able to identify pancreatic cancer in patients via a simple lendoscopic procedure, according to researchers. The study shows that the device, which acts like the well-known clothespin-type finger clip used to measure blood oxygen in patients, has a sensitivity of 92 percent and a specificity of 86 percent.

Is glaucoma a brain disease? Scientists find that jigsaw effect in glaucoma patients proves it is Posted: 05 Jun 2014 06:31 PM PDT The brain, not the eye, controls the cellular process that leads to glaucoma, a new study finds. The results may help develop treatments for one of the world's leading causes of irreversible blindness, as well as contribute to the development of future therapies for preserving brain function in other age-related disorders such as Alzheimer's.

Silent mutations speak up: Multiple silent mutations greatly impact protein translation Posted: 05 Jun 2014 04:07 PM PDT Returning to research of years ago, biologists developed an assay to test effects of all possible silent mutations on protein translation. One-third of silent mutations caused a slow down--in some cases decreasing the speed of translation five-fold.

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