Science In The News Daily

After Setbacks, Small Successes for Gene Therapy

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:40:00 EST

Not long ago, gene therapy seemed troubled by insurmountable difficulties. After decades of hype and dashed hopes, many who once embraced the idea of correcting genetic disorders by giving people new genes all but gave up the idea.

from the New York Times (Registration Required)

FDA Seeks to Reduce Drug Dosage Errors

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:38:00 EST

In an attempt to reduce the deaths and serious health problems caused by misuse of medication, the Food and Drug Administration is trying to identify the most serious threats and find ways to avoid them.

from the Los Angeles Times (Registration Required)

Researchers Team Up for Stem Cell Work

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:36:00 EST

Stem cell researchers at the Gladstone Institute in San Francisco and Stanford Medical School have joined a new national consortium linking teams of scientists who normally work independently with other groups that seek to discover new therapies for varied human disorders.

from the San Francisco Chronicle

Robot Goes All the Way in Space Elevator Competition

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:34:00 EST

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, CALIF. (Associated Press) -- A robot powered by a ground-based laser beam climbed a long cable dangling from a helicopter Wednesday, qualifying for prize money in a $2 million competition to test the potential reality of the science fiction concept of space elevators.

from the Washington Post (Registration Required)

Tiny Tech Sparks Cell Signal Find

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:32:00 EST

Tiny metal particles have been shown to cause changes to DNA across a cellular barrier--without having to cross it. The nanometre and micrometre scale particles resulted in an increase of damage to DNA across the barrier via a never-before-seen cell signal process.

from BBC News Online

Electric SUVs: A Smaller Footprint for Big Vehicles

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:31:00 EST

Tom Reid likes his ride big--a 2000 Ford Explorer SUV with plenty of interior room and all the amenities. None of those prissy little hybrid vehicles will do for him. But after gas hit $4 a gallon last year, Mr. Reid had a big fuel bill, too--and an epiphany: convert his gas guzzler to an all-electric vehicle.

from the Christian Science Monitor

Newborn Babies May Cry in Their Mother Tongues

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:28:00 EST

Only days after birth, babies have a bawl with language. Newborn babies cry in melodic patterns that they have heard in adults' conversations--even while in the womb, say medical anthropologist Kathleen Wermke of the University of Würzburg in Germany, and her colleagues.

from Science News

Amazon's Low Salt Content Keeps Carbon Emissions at Bay

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:27:00 EST

Supposedly the most robust of the world's rain forests, the Amazon jungle suffers from "chronic malnutrition" due to a lack of salt, according to the lead scientist behind a new study.

from National Geographic News

Tomorrow's Weather: Cloudy, With a Chance of Fractals

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:26:00 EST

... About 80 years ago, the British mathematician Lewis Fry Richardson was pondering the shapes of clouds when a startling thought occurred to him: the laws that govern the atmosphere might actually be very simple.

from New Scientist

Farmers Skirt Rules on Gene-Altered Crops, Report Says

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:24:00 EST

As many as 25 percent of the American farmers growing genetically engineered corn are no longer complying with federal rules intended to maintain the resistance of the crops to damage from insects, according to an advocacy group's report released Thursday.

from the New York Times (Registration Required)

Older Bypass Method Is Best, a Study Shows

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:47:00 EST

For decades, bypass surgery, in which surgeons improve blood flow to the heart by sewing new blood vessels to get around blocked ones, was done the same way. The heart was stopped while blood was pumped through a heart-lung machine to do the heart's work.

from the New York Times (Registration Required)

Obesity Puts Swine Flu Sufferers at Greater Risk, Study Suggests

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:45:00 EST

Obesity appears to be a risk factor on a par with pregnancy for developing complications from an infection with pandemic H1N1 influenza, according to the most comprehensive look yet at swine flu hospitalizations.

from the Los Angeles Times (Registration Required)

Why Do Leaves Turn Color in the Fall?

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:43:00 EST

There aren't many things that look their best right before they die, but the leaf of the sugar maple is one of them.

from the Washington Post (Registration Required)

Can We Manipulate the Weather?

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:41:00 EST

The unseasonal snow that fell on Beijing for 11 hours on Sunday was the earliest and heaviest there has been for years. It was also, China claims, man-made. By the end of last month, farmland in the already dry north of China was suffering badly due to drought. So on Saturday night China's meteorologists fired 186 explosive rockets loaded with chemicals to "seed" clouds and encourage snow to fall.

from the Guardian (UK)

Messenger Spies Iron on Mercury

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:40:00 EST

Mercury is even more of an "iron planet" than scientists had previously supposed. Richer concentrations of iron and titanium have been seen on Mercury's surface by Nasa's Messenger probe. Previous Earth and spacecraft-based observations had detected only very low amounts of iron in the silicate minerals covering the innermost world.

from BBC News Online

French Philosopher's Ideas Transformed Anthropology

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:39:00 EST

Claude Levi-Strauss, the French philosopher widely considered the father of modern anthropology because of his then-revolutionary conclusion that so-called primitive societies did not differ greatly intellectually from modern ones, died Friday at his home in Paris from natural causes. He was 100.

from the Los Angeles Times (Registration Required)

Low Cholesterol, Low Prostate Risk?

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:36:00 EST

(Associated Press) -- Men may protect more than their hearts if they keep cholesterol in line: Their chances of getting aggressive prostate cancer may be lower, new research suggests.

from the Philadelphia Inquirer

Scientists Look for Yellowstone's Hidden Species

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:35:00 EST

HELENA, Mont. (Associated Press) -- Scientists searching for Yellowstone National Park's lesser-known life forms--beyond its famed bison, bears and wolves--found more than 1,200 species, including several never known before to exist in the park.

from the San Diego Union-Tribune (Registration Required)

Small Earthquakes May Not Predict Larger Ones

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:33:00 EST

Using the locations of moderate-sized quakes to estimate where "The Big One" will eventually strike may not work for all regions, a new study reveals.

from Science News

Mutant Diseases May Cripple Missions to Mars, Beyond

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:30:00 EST

Mutant hitchhikers may become a major hurdle in the quest to send humans deeper into the galaxy, scientists say.

from National Geographic News