Sharespost Or How To Buy Private Stock Of Non Public Companies

Want to own a piece of Tesla Motors? Facebook? LinkedIn? Unless you're a founder, employee, or an investor in one of these companies, you're out of luck. That's what separates "public" companies from private: anyone can buy a piece of a public company on an open exchange. There are no wide-open exchanges for private company shares. But there is now, at least to a degree. Sharespost is a marketplace where people who own private shares of non-public companies can connect with investors who want that stock... [more]
Source : CBS News

Crafty cats coax their owners into giving them what they want by using a special purr that humans just can’t ignore

Psychologists discovered that cat owners find this “solicitation” purr irresistible because a high-frequency element embedded within it, similar to a cry or meow, subtly triggers a sense of urgency. By employing such an embedded “cry”, cats appear to be exploiting innate tendencies that humans have for nurturing offspring. However, in this case the felines subtly bury their “feed me” messages in an otherwise pleasant purr... [more]


Source : University of Sussex

Swearing lessen the feeling of physical pain

It might be socially unacceptable, but an outburst of swearing after a DIY mishap or stubbing a toe can actually do some good. Swearing could have evolved as a way of raising aggression levels and reducing the feeling of pain to allow our ancestors to flee or fight back when attacked by predators... [more]

Source : Telegraph

Dogfish 'Chateau Jiahu' the stone age beer 9,000 year old brew

Called Chateau Jiahu, this blend of rice, honey and fruit was intoxicating Chinese villagers 9,000 years ago—long before grape wine had its start in Mesopotamia. University of Pennsylvania molecular archaeologist Patrick McGovern first described the beverage in 2005 based on chemical traces from pottery in the Neolithic village of Jiahu in Northern China... [more] & [more]

Source : Scientific American & Discover Magazine

Professor Karim Nayernia artificial sperm from human stem cells

The breakthrough in stem cell science offers a potential cure for male infertility and could be used in IVF clinics in as little as five years. It would allow thousands of men to father children that are genetically their own, possibly from just a sliver of their skin... [more]


Source : Daily Mail

Scientist on the way to creating the first artificial nerve cell that can communicate specifically with nerve cells in the body using neurotransmitter

Scientists have now used an electrically conducting plastic to create a new type of "delivery electrode" that instead releases the neurotransmitters that brain cells use to communicate naturally.
The advantage of this is that only neighbouring cells that have receptors for the specific neurotransmitter, and that are thus sensitive to this substance, will be activated... [more]



Source : Karolinska Institutet

Professor John Marshal 'retinal rejuvenation' cure for age-related macular degeneration (AMD)

A surgeon who pioneered laser eye surgery to cure short-sightedness has announced a new technique which could prevent millions of older people from going blind. Prof Marshall said the treatment delayed the effect of ageing, a process he calls "retinal rejuvenation", without damaging any other cells. The technique works by stimulating enzymes to remove waste material from a thin membrane behind the retina, called Bruch's membrane... [more]
Source : Telegraph

Drinking 22 or more units of alcohol a week increases of 20% the rates of hospital admission

Men who drink 22 or more units of alcohol a week have a 20% higher rate of admissions into acute care hospitals than non-drinkers, researchers from the University of Glasgow have found. The study also showed that drinking between eight and 14 units of alcohol a week increases the total number of days spent in hospital... [more]



Source : University of Glasgow

Mars had significantly warmer weather in recent past

New research indicates that Mars had significantly warmer weather in its recent past than previously thought and is good news in our quest for life on Mars, as the shorter the time period since the last warm weather on the planet, the better the chance that any organisms that may have lived in warmer times are still alive under the planet’s surface... [more]



Source : Science and Technology Facilities Council

The protein LRRK2 fights inherited Parkinson's disease

An enzyme that naturally occurs in the brain helps destroy the mutated protein that is the most common cause of inherited Parkinson’s disease. The particular mutation that they studied affects a protein whose function is not well understood. In its normal form, it appears to have multiple sites where other molecules can attach themselves, like a space station with many docking areas. Several mutations can affect the protein, which is named LRRK2. Some of the mutations cause Parkinson’s disease... [more]
Source : UT Southwestern Medical Center

The Gene Variant NRXN3 Links Obesity to the Brain

A variation in a gene that is active in the central nervous system is associated with increased risk for obesity, the research adds to evidence that genes influence appetite and that the brain plays a key role in obesity. After analyzing more than two million regions of the human genome, the researchers found that the NRXN3 gene variant ─ previously associated with alcohol dependence, cocaine addiction, and illegal substance abuse ─ also predicts the tendency to become obese. Researchers found the gene variant in 20 percent of the people studied... [more]
Source : Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Astrologer Chandrasiri Bandara arrested for predicting that the government and the president will be ejected from office

Chandrasiri Bandara announced that the government would flounder in September and October because of political and economic problems. The opposition have condemned the arrest and warned that the country is heading towards a dictatorship. Astrology is taken seriously by numerous Sri Lankan politicians... [more]


Source : BBC

Australian wallabies are eating opium poppies 'stoned' are making crop circles

Lara Giddings, the attorney general for the island state of Tasmania, said the kangaroo-like marsupials were getting into poppy fields grown for medicine. Australia supplies about 50% of the world's legally-grown opium used to make morphine and other painkillers. There have been many stories about sheep that have eaten some of the poppies after harvesting and they all walk around in circles... [more] & [more] & [more] & [more]
Source : Adelaide Now & Daily Mail & Los Angeles Times & BBC

Larry Niven 'Flash Crowd' foresaw self-assembling riots thanks to brand-new technologies like 'Flash mobs' and 'social networking'

Demonstrators throng Tehran's streets, cellphones, Facebook and Twitter have emerged as key players in the political battle there. "Flash mobs" organized by such "social networking" tools have also played into political unrest in Estonia, and even in the U.S. presidential election, in which candidates' fans triggered turnout for events from their computer screens, rather than from old-fashioned door-to-door canvassing. Who saw it coming? Well, the best candidate may be science fiction author Larry Niven, 71, whose 1973 novella Flash Crowd foresaw riots self-assembling thanks to brand-new technologies... [more]

Source : USA Today

Xeros Washing with thousands of tiny nylon beads without water

The system developed by Xeros, a spin-off from the University of Leeds, in England uses thousands of tiny nylon beads each measuring a few millimetres across. These are placed inside the smaller of two concentric drums along with the dirty laundry, a squirt of detergent and a little water. As the drums rotate, the water wets the clothes and the detergent gets to work loosening the dirt. Then the nylon beads mop it up... [more]


Source : The Economist

Dr Simon Ourian Botox A Cure For Baldness

Familiar with Botox's use as a headache treatment, he injected the chemical – the medical name for a form of Botulinum toxin – into her scalp but was surprised to find that it also appeared to help her hair to grow back. The theory is that by dilating blood vessels, Botox, a relaxant, allows nutrients into shrunk follicles by dilating the blood vessels... [more] & [more]

Source : Telegraph & The Sun

Talking to plants makes them grow faster especially if you are a woman

Women gardeners' voices speed up growth of tomato plants much more than men's, it found. In an experiment run over a month, they found that tomato plants grew up to two inches taller if they were serenaded by the dulcet tones of a female rather than a male. Colin Crosbie, Garden Superintendent at RHS, said: "We predicted that the male voice would be more effective but it turned out that the ladies were far better than the gentlemen... [more]
Source : Telegraph

Physicist Ronald Mallett Builds Time Machine To Save His Father's Life With Gravitational Swirl

Albert Einstein theorized that space and time are linked, and that gravity can bend time just like it bends space. Mallett said he believes that if he can create a gravitational swirl -- a whirpool -- he can actually twist space and time. "So if I'm twisting space violently enough, ultimately what will happen is that that timeline will get twisted into a loop," Think of the loop like a time tunnel. Where Mallett thinks maybe we might be able to move back and forth. He said he will use criss-crossing lasers to try to create his time tunnel... [more]
Source : ABC News

Stress produce grey hair, hair follicles can suffer the same kind of "genotoxic stress" as DNA

When the going gets tough, stem cells which produce colour in hair follicles are damaged, say scientists. But the good news is that limiting the amount of stress can stop grey hairs growing... [more]


Source : Telegraph

Nintendo Wii may help treat symptoms of Parkinson's disease, including depression

"The Wii allows patients to work in a virtual environment that's safe, fun and motivational," says Dr. Ben Herz, program director and assistant professor in the School of Allied Health Sciences Department of Occupational Therapy. "The games require visual perception, eye-hand coordination, figure-ground relationships and sequenced movement, so it's a huge treatment tool from an occupational therapy perspective... [more]


Source : Medical College of Georgia

Moon Magic Tool To Visualize Past, Future Lunar Eclipses

Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a new method for using computer graphics to simulate and render an accurate visualization of a lunar eclipse. The model uses celestial geometry of the sun, Earth, and moon, along with data for the Earth’s atmosphere and the moon’s peculiar optical properties to create picture-perfect images of lunar eclipses... [more]

Source : Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Holografika HOLOVISION no more glasses to watch 3D

The most important aspect of the new system from the user perspective is that nothing is required of the viewer – no need for the special glasses in cinemas or having to adjust your head into specific positions to get the 3D effect, as with a holographic image. It provides the closest video 3D viewing experience compared to the well-known static holography, where the user can freely move to change viewing angle. The glassless technology presents the 3D image in a way very similar to light coming from a normal object, so putting a lot less strain on the brain than current 3D projections. Demeter likens the experience to looking through a window. And as with looking though a window, it is possible for the viewer to walk around in front of the display and still see the same view, albeit from a changing perspective...[more]
Source : ICT Results

Element 112 A New Chemical Element in the Periodic Table

To produce element 112 atoms, scientists accelerate charged zinc atoms – zinc ions for short – with the help of the 120 m long particle accelerator at GSI and “fire” them onto a lead target. The zinc and lead nuclei merge in a nuclear fusion to form the nucleus of the new element. Its so-called atomic number 112, hence the provisional name “element 112”, is the sum of the atomic numbers of the two initial elements: zinc has the atomic number 30 and lead the atomic number 82. An element’s atomic number indicates the number of protons in its nucleus. The neutrons that are also located in the nucleus have no effect on the classification of the element. It is the 112 electrons, which orbit the nucleus, that determine the new element’s chemical properties... [more]
Source : Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres

200,000-Year-old giant prehistoric elephant unearthted

It is of an extinct species and is of enormous size - much bigger than modern-day Asian elephants, with a femur alone being 1.2 metres long. It appears that the elephant became bogged in the river shallows, perished and was quickly covered by sands - about 200,000 years ago... [more]


Source : The Australian

Global Language Monitor Millionth New English Word Imminent

Global Language Monitor searches for new words and once a word has been used 25,000 times, it recognises it. Lexicographers say the exact size of the English vocabulary is impossible to quantify, but if every technical term or obscure specialist word is accepted then we are already beyond one million... [more] & [more] & [more]

Source : BBC & The Economist & The Global Language Monitor

Japanese Company Office Agents Hire 'Fake Friends'

Office Agents, a Tokyo-based company, rents out friends, work colleagues and even relatives to pad out the guest list. Brides or grooms who want to impress their prospective partners with their sheer volume of friends are among those secretly padding the guest list with fakes. Others turning to the company for fake work-related guests are those who have recently lost their jobs but want to maintain an air of respectability, according to Hiroshi Mizutani, who heads Office Agents... [more]


Source : Telegraph

Brighter Light Bulbs Using Less Power Super Efficient Regular Light Bulbs Made With Ultra Fast Laser

An ultra-powerful laser can turn regular incandescent light bulbs into power-sippers, say optics researchers at the University of Rochester. The process could make a light as bright as a 100-watt bulb consume less electricity than a 60-watt bulb while remaining far cheaper and radiating a more pleasant light than a fluorescent bulb can. The laser process creates a unique array of nano- and micro-scale structures on the surface of a regular tungsten filament—the tiny wire inside a light bulb—and theses structures make the tungsten become far more effective at radiating light... [more]
Source : University of Rochester

How To Grow Plastic On Trees, Cellulose Converted On HMF

Some researchers hope to turn plants into a renewable, nonpolluting replacement for crude oil. To achieve this, scientists have to learn how to convert plant biomass into a building block for plastics and fuels cheaply and efficiently. In new research, chemists have successfully converted cellulose -- the most common plant carbohydrate -- directly into the building block called HMF in one step... [more]
Source : Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

If Antarctic sheet disintegrates melting ice could cause gravity shift, northern hemisphere sea levels 'will rise

The melting of one of the world's largest ice sheets would alter the Earth's field of gravity and even its rotation in space so much that it would cause sea levels along some coasts to rise faster than the global average, scientists said yesterday. The rise in sea levels would be highest on the west and east coasts of North America where increases of 25 per cent more than the global average would cause catastrophic flooding in cities such as New York, Washington DC and San Francisco... [more] & [more]
Source : University of Colorado at Boulder & Independent

Desert rhubarb 'rheum palaestinum' the only known plant in the world able to self-irrigate

The plant, a type of rhubarb, has specially designed leaves that channel rain water to its roots. The adaptation allows the rhubarb to flourish in extreme arid conditions by collecting up to 16 times more water than other plants in the region, Simcha Lev-Yadun, Gadi Katzir and Gidi Ne'eman of the University of Haifa, Israel first noticed the desert rhubarb when studying plants in the country's mountainous desert... [more] & [more]


Source : University of Haifa & BBC

Nanofiber scaffolds seeded with patient-derived stem cells to repair joints, cartilage crafts for damaged knees

Scientists are experimenting with a combination of stem cells and novel scaffold materials designed to mimic real tissue, in hopes of permanently vanquishing the pain that accompanies this damage and perhaps preventing the onset of arthritis. The scaffolds are seeded with mesenchymal stem cells--adult stem cells derived from bone marrow, fatty tissue, and other sources, and which can be differentiated into muscle, bone, fat, and cartilage. The advantage is that you don't have to damage other tissue to get the cells... [more]


Source : Technology Review

Star Trek Warp Speed, Two Physicist Could Make it Happen With Method Based on the Alcubierre Drive to Travel Faster Than Light

By manipulating the space-time dimensions around the spaceship with a massive amount of energy, it would create a "bubble" that could push the ship faster than the speed of light. To create this bubble, the Baylor physicists believe manipulating the 11-dimension would create dark energy. Cleaver said positive dark energy is responsible for speeding up the universe as time moves on, just like it did after the Big Bang, when the universe expanded faster than the speed of light. The method is based on the Alcubierre drive, which proposes expanding the fabric of space behind a ship into a bubble and shrinking space-time in front of the ship. The ship would not actually move, rather the ship would sit in between the expanding and shrinking space-time dimensions. Since space would move around the ship, the theory does not violate Einstein's Theory of Relativity, which states that it would take an infinite amount of energy to accelerate an object faster than the speed of light... [more]
Source : Baylor University

Terminal High Altitude Area Defence THAAD system found on secondhand computer sold on eBay

Highly sensitive details of a key US missile defence system have been found on the hard drive of a computer that was disposed of in California. The computer, turned over to the FBI, contained documents from Lockheed Martin that included detailed test launch procedures, photos and personal data of employees, including their social security numbers and blueprints of facilities... [more] & [more]



Source : Guardian & Fox News

Oldest Surface on Earth 'desert pavement' in Israel's Negev Desert 1.8 million years old discovered

A new study of ancient "desert pavement" in Israel's Negev Desert finds a vast region that's been sitting there exposed, pretty much as-is, for about 1.8 million years, according to Ari Matmon and colleagues at Hebrew University of Jerusalem. t is the oldest known vast expanse of surface area. In fact it is more than four times older than the confirmed next oldest desert pavement, in Nevada... [more]
Source : Live Science

Anaconda the giant rubber 'sea snakes' to generate electricity at low cost from tidal power

Each 'anaconda', which could be more than 200 yards long and made almost entirely of a rubber tube, may be capable of producing 1MW (megawatt) of power. Groups of 50 anacondas could each generate enough electricity to power 50,000 homes at an 'excitingly low' cost, the developers Checkmate Group said... [more]

Source : Daily Mail

Morning sickness in women may lead to smarter baby high IQ child

For many expectant mothers, that queasy feeling is one of the hardest parts of pregnancy. But new research reveals that mom’s nausea and vomiting of pregnancy (NVP), commonly known as morning sickness, may actually result in a smarter baby. Researchers at The Hospital for Sick Children’s have found that morning sickness, which impacts up to 80 per cent of pregnancies, enhances children’s long-term neurodevelopment... [more]


Source : Hospital for Sick Children

Alzheimer's Cure, scientists reverse' Alzheimer's with HDAC inhibitors

The drugs target and boost the function of a newly pinpointed gene involved in the brain's memory formation. The Alzheimer's gene the drugs act upon, histone deacetylase 2 (HDAC2), regulates the expression of a plethora of genes implicated in plasticity - the brain's ability to change in response to experience - and memory formation... [more] & [more] & [more]

Source : BBC & Massachusetts institute of technology & US News & World Report

Prox Dynamics Microcopter PD-100 Black Hornet 'nanocopter' developed for spies and soldiers

Weighing in at just 0.5g, the tiny servos mean the PD-100 is even smaller than a toy battery helicopter. Powered by an electric motor, the microcopter has 4in rotor blades, carries a tiny digital camera and flies at speeds of up to 20mph.
'The helicopter can be carried in a pocket and launched within seconds to give immediate situational awareness,' said Petter Muren, boss of manufacturers Prox Dynamics... [more] & [more]
Source : Daily Mail & The Register

L-theanine the substance from tea enhance concentration without energizing in drinks and supplements

Sometimes energy isn't what you need. Concentration and attention can start to fade in the face of those midafternoon doldrums and a host of distractions. Something to perk up the mind and enhance focus would do the trick. Some beverage manufacturers say they have just the solution. They're touting a new kind of drink that emphasizes focus over ferocity. The key substance is the amino acid L-theanine, which preliminary research suggests might calm the brain to enhance concentration and mental stamina... [more]
Source : Los Angeles Times

With 500mg of testosterone undecanoate in tea seed oil Chinese birth control for men in one injection

Researchers at the National Research for Family Planning in Beijing injected 1,000 healthy, fertile male patients with a testosterone-based jab over a two-year period and found only 1 per cent went on to father a child. Dr Yi-Qun Gu, one of the researchers involved in the testing, said: "For couples who cannot or prefer not to use only female-oriented contraception, options have been limited to vasectomy, condom and withdrawal. Our study shows a male hormonal contraceptive regimen may be a potential, novel and workable alternative... [more] & [more] & [more]
Source : Independent & ABC News & Guardian

Van Gogh's ear was cut off by Gauguin during an argument

A new study claims Vincent Van Gogh may have made up the story to protect painter Paul Gauguin who actually lopped it off with a sword during an argument.
Art historians say the true version of events never surfaced as the two men both kept a pact of silence... [more] & [more]


Source : Telegraph & Guardian

X-43A The experimental jet flying faster than the speed of sound

When a jet is flying faster than the speed of sound, one small mistake can tear it apart. And when the jet is so experimental that it must fly unmanned, only a computer control system can pilot it. the technology is still under development in military and commercial sectors. Scramjets could deliver missiles to mobile targets; they could also carry people halfway around the world in less than an hour... [more]

Source : Ohio State University

Self-cleaning materials, water-striding robots hydrophobic waxy made super hydrophobic with microscopic hair-like structures

Self-cleaning walls, counter tops, fabrics, even micro-robots that can walk on water -- all those things and more could be closer to reality thanks to research completed by scientists at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and at Japan's RIKEN institute. In nature, organisms like caterpillars, water striders and the lotus achieve super hydrophobia through a two-level structure -- a hydrophobic waxy surface made super hydrophobic by the addition microscopic hair-like structures that may be covered by even smaller hairs, greatly increasing the surface area of the organism and making it impossible for water droplets to stick... [more]
Source : University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Relationship between smiling and divorce, facial expression predict divorce

A grim expression in a yearbook photo or family snapshot could mean more than just a passing bad mood. It could also signal that the subject is more likely to get divorced than someone with a big smile for the camera. This research is a dramatic example of how “thin slices” of information can predict important aspects of people’s personalities. In past studies, researchers have shown that with very limited information—less than half a minute of interaction, the viewing of a video clip or just a look at a photograph—people can make accurate predictions about others’ sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, teaching ability and personality. Matthew Hertenstein and his colleagues... [more]
Source : The Economist

Invisibility Cloak 'Carpet Cloak' From Nanostructured Silicon Blurs Line Between Magic and Science

A team led by Xiang Zhang, a principal investigator with Berkeley Lab’s Materials Sciences Division and director of UC Berkeley’s Nano-scale Science and Engineering Center, has created a “carpet cloak” from nanostructured silicon that conceals the presence of objects placed under it from optical detection. While the carpet itself can still be seen, the bulge of the object underneath it disappears from view. Shining a beam of light on the bulge shows a reflection identical to that of a beam reflected from a flat surface, meaning the object itself has essentially been rendered invisible... [more]
Source : Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Swine Flu Ancestor H3N2 Born on U.S. Factory Farms in 1998

Scientists have traced the genetic lineage of the new H1N1 swine flu to a strain that emerged in 1998 in U.S. factory farms, where it spread and mutated at an alarming rate. Experts warned then that a pocket of the virus would someday evolve to infect humans, perhaps setting off a global pandemic... [more] & [more]

Source : Wired & McClatchy

Chinese government's "weather modification office" Can humans control the weather?

In certain, limited weather conditions, humans can have some impact on the weather. But not on the scale needed to change the weather conditions in China during the rainy season. It is more likely that it was just good luck, apart from that opening night, the Beijing games were a washout” in terms of weather. The idea of humans controlling the weather is not a new one. Back in medieval France, people would shoot cannons into the clouds to try to prevent crop-damaging hail... [more]
Source : The Pennsylvania State University

Ancient ecosystem below Antarctic glacier where thrive microbes in cold isolation for millions of years

A reservoir of briny liquid buried deep beneath an Antarctic glacier supports hardy microbes that have lived in isolation for millions of years. This briny pond is a unique sort of time capsule from a period in Earth’s history... [more]


Source : Harvard University

Natural ‘barcodes’ help us recognise faces

Our faces contain ‘barcodes’ of information which help us recognise people and may have implications for improving face recognition software. Exposed skin on our forehead and cheeks tends to be shiny whilst our eyebrows and lips and the shadows cast in the eye sockets and under the nose tend to be darker the resulting horizontal stripes of information are reminiscent of a supermarket barcode...[more]

Source : University College London

The APOE4 genetic variant young adults at future risk of Alzheimer's have different brain activity

Young adults with a genetic variant that raises their risk of developing Alzheimer's Disease show changes in their brain activity decades before any symptoms might arise. The APOE4 genetic variant is found in about a quarter of the population. Not everyone who carries the variant will go on to develop AD, but people who inherit one copy of APOE4 have up to four times the normal risk of developing the late-onset variety of the disease. People who have two copies have around ten times the normal risk... [more]
Source : Imperial College London

Pregnancy make women forgetful

A new study has revealed absentmindedness in pregnant women may not just be a popular stereotype but rather a scientific fact.
Pregnant women have poorer memory than their non-pregnant counterparts... [more]



Source : New Zealand Herald

Sleep help clear the brain for new learning

Researchers found evidence that sleep, already recognized as a promoter of long-term memories, also helps clear room in the brain for new learning. Sleep is a recognized promoter of learning, learning increases the need for sleep... [more]

Source : Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis

Chocolate improve the brain's ability to do maths

Foods containing high levels of cocoa flavanols, found in chocolate, have been shown to increase cerebral blood flow, and it has also been proven that consumption of plants that have these properties improves performance on mentally demanding tasks... [more]



Source : Northumbria University

The Machine Scientists - Computer Program Self-Discovers Laws of Physics

In just over a day, a powerful computer program accomplished a feat that took physicists centuries to complete: extrapolating the laws of motion from a pendulum's swings. Developed by Cornell researchers, the program deduced the natural laws without a shred of knowledge about physics or geometry... [more] & [more]

Source : Wired & AAAS

Men are the weaker sex study proves males more at-risk in the womb

Nurses in the maternity ward often say that a difficult labor is a sign of a baby boy. A study provides scientific proof that a male baby comes with a bigger package of associated risks than his female counterparts. Pregnancies with a male fetus are more often complicated... [more]

Source : American Friends of Tel Aviv University

Toad Day Out 'War' On Poisonous Australian Cane Toads

People in the Australian state of Queensland have taken part in a mass capture of poisonous cane toads as part of a collective effort at pest control. The toads have to be captured alive and unharmed, examined by experts, and then killed humanely under the event rules. Cane toads were introduced to Australia from South America in 1935 to eat beetles, but became a pest themselves... [more]
Source : BBC

Brain cortex thinning linked to inherited depression

The brains of people with a family history of depression look different and work differently than those of others, according to a study that offers insight into the disease's progression. On average, people with a family history of depression appear to have brains that are 28% thinner in the right cortex -- the outermost layer of the brain -- than those with no known family history of the disease... [more]

Source : Los Angeles Times

Positive link between cognitive ability and cortical thickness, when it comes to intelligence size matters

McGill University has demonstrated a positive link between cognitive ability and cortical thickness in the brains of healthy 6 to 18 year olds. The correlation is evident in regions that integrate information from different parts of the brain. Cortical thickness may in part reflect the amount of complex connections between nerve cells. In other words, thicker cortices are likely to have more complex connections with consequences on cognitive ability. A positive link between cortical thickness and cognitive ability was detected in many areas of the frontal, parietal, temporal and occipital lobes. The regions with the greatest relationship were the ‘multi-modal association’ areas, where information converges from various regions of the brain for processing... [more]
Source : Montreal Neurological Institute

Study women more attracted to men in expensive cars

Men who drive expensive cars really are more attractive to women, according to a study by university researchers. The researchers say the men tested in the same way are not impressed by whatever car a woman drives because they judge purely on her face and figure... [more]


Source : Telegraph

Financial advice makes the brain blindly agree with the advice being given

A study using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) shows that expert advice may shut down areas of the brain responsible for decision-making processes, particularly when individuals are trying to evaluate a situation where risk is involved. Results showed that brain regions consistent with decision-making were active in participants when making choices on their own; however, there occurred an offloading of the decision-making process in the presence of expert advice... [more] & [more]
Source : Emory University & Plos One

Willie the Parrot Honored By Red Cross

Red Cross spokesperson Jim Rettew says it's unusual to honor a bird but he says if you hear the story, it's a great one. Megan went into the bathroom and moments later heard Willie screaming, "Mama, Baby" over and over... [more]




Source : CBS4 Denver

Integrity Of Neural Wiring The Secret To Higher IQ

New research suggests that the layer of insulation coating neural wiring in the brain plays a critical role in determining intelligence. In addition, the quality of this insulation appears to be largely genetically determined, providing further support for the idea that IQ is partly inherited... [more]


Source : Technology Review

Mental fatigue can affect physical endurance

Mentally tired individuals will reach exhaustion quicker that those who are not mentally fatigued according to findings of a study by Bangor University. In the trial conducted by exercise physiologists at the University's School of Sport, Health & Exercise Sciences, participants who performed a mentally fatiguing task prior to a difficult exercise test, reached exhaustion more quickly than when they did the same exercise when mentally rested... [more]
Source : Bangor University

Margot Somerville a case of identity theft

Margot Somerville knew she was in for a hassle when her wallet was stolen in 2006 on a San Francisco streetcar. But she had no way of knowing she would end up facing felony identity-theft charges 950 miles away. But one Sunday morning in April 2008, nearly two years after her wallet was swiped, police came to her house and took Somerville away in handcuffs on a no-bail warrant out of Colorado... [more] & [more]


Source : San Francisco Chronicle & The Denver Post

Nerica New Rice for Africa success in attempt to double rice production in Uganda

The New Rice for Africa (Nerica), A "miracle crop" it combines the high yield of Asian rice with the hardiness and drought resistance of African rice varieties. One kilogram of seed produces 50kg of seed inside one season... [more]



Source : Independent

MGAT2 The fat controller enzyme why some people don't get flabby

The enzyme, MGAT2, determines whether dietary fat is used to generate energy or stored under the skin around the waist. The discovery of its role could be the key to preventing obesity, diabetes and heart disease... [more] & [more]



Source : Telegraph & Daily Mail

Rare copy of the first Superman comic from 1938 sold for $317,200

The copy was described as unrestored. The cover shows the cape-wearing action hero from the planet Krypton lifting a car above his head. There are only 100 copies left of the first Superman comic, which sold for 10 cents when it appeared in June 1938... [more]



Source : BBC

TR10 Traveling Wave Reactor nuclear power safer and cheaper

Unlike today’s reactors, a traveling-wave reactor requires very little enriched uranium, reducing the risk of weapons proliferation. The reactor uses depleted-uranium fuel packed inside hundreds of hexagonal pillars in a “wave” that moves through the core at only a centimeter per year, this fuel is transformed (or bred) into plutonium... [more]

Source : Technology Review

Rocks To Soak Carbon Dioxide From Air Might Turn Emissions to Harmless Solids

To slow global warming, scientists are exploring ways to pull carbon dioxide from the air and safely lock it away. Trees already do this naturally through photosynthesis; now, in a new report, geologists have mapped large rock formations in the United States that can also absorb CO2, which they say might be artificially harnessed to do the task at a vastly increased pace. Ultramafic rocks generally form in earth’s mantle, starting some 12 miles under the surface and extending down hundreds of miles. Bits of these rocks—peridotite, dunite, lherzholite and others-- may be squeezed to the surface when continental plates collide with oceanic plates, or, less often, when the interiors of continents thin and develop rifts. Because of their chemical makeup, when the rocks are exposed to carbon dioxide, they react to form common limestone and chalk... [more] & [more]
Source : The Earth Institute at Columbia University & Usgs

Over-consumption of sugar linked to aging lowering caloric intake increases life span

Excess glucose can have deleterious effects, but it is not clear whether this is due to the caloric contribution of glucose or to some other effect. Glucose sensed by the cells activates signaling pathways that, in yeast, favor the metabolic machinery that makes energy (glycolysis) and cell growth. The sensing of glucose also reduces stress resistance and the ability to live long. Genetic inactivation of the glucose-signaling pathway prolonged life span in this yeast, while its constitutive activation shortened it and blocked the longevity effects of calorie restriction. The pro-aging effects of glucose signaling correlated with a decrease in mitochondrial respiration and an increase in reactive oxygen species production... [more]
Source : Plos Genetics

The underwater hydrokinetic energy system turning the tide to energy

JPL scientists, have designed a new kind of underwater hydrokinetic energy system. It uses water motion to generate a high-pressure liquid rather than electricity. That liquid is then transported to shore and used to produce electricity on land. The JPL/Caltech hydrokinetic energy system is a spin-off from a research project to find a new way to power robotic underwater vehicles. Most robotic underwater vehicles run on batteries and have to be recovered by ship to have their batteries recharged or replaced... [more]
Source : NASA/JPL

COPD Women are more vulnerable to cigarette harm

Studies of twins have revealed significant genetic differences between men and women who smoke who develop lung disease.
Smoking is the main risk factor for COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) which includes bronchitis and emphysema. COPD which progressively and irreversibly damages lungs is one of the most challenging diseases in the world, both in terms of treatment and prevention.
Currently it is one of the global top five causes of mortality and is predicted to rise. It is also closely associated with other major causes of death such as heart disease... [more]
Source : Alpha Galileo

Icisoscutum ritchiei the first animals to have sex found on a fossilised pregnant fish

A pregnant fossil fish at the Natural History Museum in London has shed light on the possible origin of sex. The fish species is Incisoscutum ritchiei and this specimen is one of the earliest examples of a pregnant vertebrate and shows that internal fertilisation, or sex, started far sooner than previously thought... [more]


Source : Natural History Museum

The invisible French town of EU on web searches

Type Eu into a French search engine and you are more likely to get the past participle of the verb avoir, to have, than the estimable château, hotels, restaurants and gardens of the ancient royal borough. For surfers, Eu predictably retrieves a long list of European Union websites. This has caused the town of 8,000 people to lose out on the tourist boom in northern Normandy because people depend increasingly on the internet for information and bookings, according to the council in Eu. The final straw came when the computers of the SNCF railways decided that Eu did not exist... [more]
Source : Timesonline

FTO Fat gene mystery responsible for obesity solved

Slight differences in a single gene may be responsible for suppressing the metabolism, making its carriers permanently sluggish and unable to burn calories as effectively. Scientists have long suspected that genetic differences were responsible for weight gain and singled out the FTO gene as the main culprit... [more]


Source : Telegraph

Trees absorb a fifth of carbon emissions by extra forest growth

A laborious study of the girth of 70,000 trees across Africa has shown that tropical forests are soaking up more carbon dioxide pollution that anybody realised. Almost one-fifth of our fossil fuel emissions are absorbed by forests across Africa, Amazonia and Asia, the research suggests. The study measured trees in 79 areas of intact forest across 10 African countries from Liberia to Tanzania, and compared records going back 40 years... [more]
Source : Guardian

The distance decay theory and island biogeographic theory to find Bin Laden scientifically

A research team led by geographer Thomas Gillespie of the University of California-Los Angeles used geographic analytical tools that have been successful in locating urban criminals and endangered species. The UCLA findings rely on two principles used in geography to predict the distribution of wildlife, primarily for the purposes of designing approaches to conservation. The first, known as distance-decay theory, holds that as one travels farther away from a precise location with a specific composition of species — or, in this case, a specific composition of cultural and physical factors —the probability of finding spots with that same specific composition decreases exponentially. The second, island biogeographic theory, holds that large and close islands have larger immigration rates and will support more species than smaller, more isolated islands... [more] & [more]

Source : UCLA & USA Today

Acinetobacter baumannii the new multi-drug-resistant gram-negative bug

Acinetobacter doesn't garner as many headlines as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, the dangerous superbug better known as MRSA. But a January report by the Infectious Diseases Society of America warned that drug-resistant strains of Acinetobacter baumannii and two other microbes -- Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella pneumoniae -- could soon produce a toll to rival MRSA's. The three bugs belong to a large category of bacteria called "gram-negative" that are especially hard to fight because they are wrapped in a double membrane and harbor enzymes that chew up many antibiotics. As dangerous as MRSA is, some antibiotics can still treat it, and more are in development, experts say... [more]
Source : Los Angeles Times

Forensic molecular photofitting DNA sample may be enough to build an image of a face

Forensic experts will soon be able to reconstruct facial features and skin just by reading DNA, U.S. scientists said. 'Forensic molecular photofitting' maps the genes that are linked to skin pigmentation and facial structure which means a person's face could emerge from the analysis, Dr Mark Shriver... [more] & [more] & [more] & [more]
Source : Daily Mail & Irish Times & Science Blogs & Science Daily

New toilet tax in Australia householders to be charged for each flush of toilet

The scheme would replace the current system, which sees sewage charges based on a home's value - not its waste water output. It would encourage people to reduce their sewage output by taking shorter showers, recycling washing machine water or connecting rainwater tanks to internal plumbing to reduce their charges. Some people may go as far as not flushing their toilet as often because the less sewage you produce, the less sewage rate you pay... [more]


Source : Perth Now

The hair germ stem cells in hair follicles uncover general model of organ regeneration

Most people consider hair as a purely cosmetic part of their lives. To others, it may help uncover one of nature’s best-kept secrets: the body’s ability to regenerate organs. Now, new research from Rockefeller University gets to the root of the problem, revealing that a structure at the base of each strand of hair, the hair follicle, uses a two-step mechanism to activate its stem cells and order them to divide. The mechanism provides insights into how repositories of stem cells may be organized in other body tissues for the purpose of supporting organ regeneration... [more]
Source : Rockefeller University

British and French submarines armed with ballistic missiles collide in the Atlantic

The crash is believed to have occurred after state-of-the-art technology fitted in both vessels, which is designed to detect other submarines, apparently failed completely.
British and French submarines armed with ballistic missiles threatened a nuclear disaster after colliding in the Atlantic, it emerged last night... [more] & [more]

Source : Daily Mail & Ynet

Beta-blockers like propranolol erase and block emotion of fearful memories

Such findings could one day help individuals suffering from pathological anxiety disorders from the debilitating physiological effects of their fears. Yet many questions remain, experts note, such as how permanent the effect is, and whether it can affect traumatic memories that may be decades old. The researchers think beta-blockers work by changing the way the frightening memories are stored. Each time a memory is recalled it changes a little, and the new version is recorded in the long-term memory stash via brain chemical fluctuations in a process called reconsolidation. The beta-blockers could interfere with the brain chemicals, blocking reconsolidation of the emotional component of the memory, but leaving the rest of the memory intact, the scientists suggest... [more] & [more] & [more] & [more]
Source : Forbes & Science News & Telegraph & Daily Mail

Alan Boss One hundred billion trillion planets where extraterrestrial life exists

There could be one hundred billion Earth-like planets in our galaxy, a US conference has heard. Dr Alan Boss of the Carnegie Institution of Science said many of these worlds could be inhabited by simple lifeforms. Dr Boss said: "We already know enough now to say that the universe is probably loaded with terrestrial planets similar to the Earth... [more] & [more]
Source : BBC & Telegraph

L115A3 Long Range Rifle That Killed Scores In Afghanistan

British Army snipers call it 'the Silent Assassin' and it is the weapon the Taliban fear the most.It is the British-made L115A3 Long Range Rifle which, in recent weeks, has killed scores of enemy fighters in Afghanistan...[more] & [more] & [more]

Source : Telegraph & New Zealand Herald & Daily Mail

Muzak Holdings filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection

After a failed merger with one of its major creditors, the "sensory branding" company DMX last year, the firm which began life as Wired Radio Inc in the 1930s has been teetering on the brink of financial collapse. As companies such as EMI clamour for their money, many of the firm's 1,250 employees face redundancy. Clients of Muzak, it seems, which once accounted for 60 per cent of all background music in the United States, are looking for cheaper ways to keep customers satisfied... [more]
Source : Independent

Russian and US satellites collide in space

A satellite owned by the US company Iridium hit a defunct Russian satellite at high speed nearly 780km (485 miles) over Siberia. The impact produced a massive cloud of debris... [more] & [more]


Source : BBC & Timesonline

UV light-enhanced tooth bleaching dangerous to your eyes and skin

The light treatment gives absolutely no benefit over bleaching without UV, and damages skin and eyes up to four times as much as sunbathing. Those looking to match Tom Cruise's glittering pearly-whites would be better off ignoring claims of better bleaching with UV light treatment. The treatment is at least as damaging to skin and eyes as sunbathing in a midsummer's afternoon - one lamp actually gave four times that level of radiation exposure... [more]
Source : Royal Society of Chemistry

Men smell of cheese women smell of onion

Scientists at Firmenich, a company in Geneva that researches flavours and smells for the food and perfume industry, took samples of armpit sweat from 24 men and 25 women after they had spent time in a sauna or 15 minutes on an exercise bike. It is thought the study could be used to develop deodorants aimed specifically at men or women... [more] & [more]
Source : Telegraph & New Scientist

NASA Mars Lander Sees Falling Snow, It’s snowing on Mars

Nasa's Phoenix Mars Lander has detected snow falling from Martian clouds. Spacecraft soil experiments also have provided evidence of past interaction between minerals and liquid water, processes that occur on Earth. The news of snow falling is just one piece of an extraordinary wealth of information that has recently been sent back from Mars by orbiters, landers and rovers. Together, they have mapped the surface in unprecedented detail... [more] & [more]

Source : Nasa & Guardian

Cows with a name produces more milk than one without

The study found that on farms where each cow was called by her name the overall milk yield was higher than on farms where the cattle were herded as a group. Just as people respond better to the personal touch, cows also feel happier and more relaxed if they are given a bit more one-to-one attention... [more]



Source : Newcastle University

Freed from Guantánamo Saudi Becomes Al Qaeda Chief In Yemen

The militant, Said Ali al-Shihri, is suspected of involvement in a deadly bombing of the United States Embassy in Yemen's capital, Sana, in September. He was released to Saudi Arabia in 2007 and passed through a Saudi rehabilitation program for former jihadists before resurfacing with Al Qaeda in Yemen... [more]


Source : IHT

Long-Distance Teleportation Between Two Atoms Achieved

For the first time, scientists have successfully teleported information between two separate atoms in unconnected enclosures a meter apart - a significant milestone in the global quest for practical quantum information processing. Teleportation may be nature's most mysterious form of transport: Quantum information, such as the spin of a particle or the polarization of a photon, is transferred from one place to another, without traveling through any physical medium... [more]


Source : University of Maryland

Joseph Nagyvary Secrets Of Stradivarius Unique Sound Revealed

Joseph Nagyvary, a professor emeritus of biochemistry, first theorized in 1976 that chemicals used on the instruments – not merely the wood and the construction – are responsible for the distinctive sound of these violins. Nagyvary obtained minute wood samples from restorers working on Stradivarius and Guarneri instruments (“no easy trick and it took a lot of begging to get them,” he adds). The results of the preliminary analysis of these samples, published in “Nature” in 2006, suggested that the wood was brutally treated by some unidentified chemicals. For the present study, the researchers burned the wood slivers to ash, the only way to obtain accurate readings for the chemical elements. They found numerous chemicals in the wood, among them borax, fluorides, chromium and iron salts... [more]
Source : Texas A&M University

Real and fake acupuncture effectively relieve the pain of headaches because of placebo effect

The effects of acupuncture could be mostly in the mind, scientists have revealed, after finding that placing needles close to the surface of the skin and away from traditional pressure points is almost as sucessful in relieving the pain of headaches. Sham acupuncture was almost as effective, scientists found. They believe that both contain a strong “placebo effect” which could fool patients into feeling better because they believe that they are receiving a successful treatment... [more]


Source : Telegraph

Injuries and repetitive heading of footballs, can football cause dementia?

IQ tests for footballers? It's not as daft as it sounds as Chelsea FC leads the way with a game plan that can help to safeguard against brain damage. It is the cumulative effect of such injuries, combined with the repetitive heading of footballs, that has long been thought to increase the risk of dementia in players... [more]


Source : Timesonline

Heart risk with antipsychotic drugs like Zyprexa Risperdal and Seroquel

Zyprexa, Risperdal and Seroquel, among the 10 most commonly prescribed medications, are just as likely as older antipsychotic drugs to cause a fatal heart attack, a study finds. he findings, which run contrary to a long-standing belief, add to a growing drumbeat of criticism about this class of drugs, known as atypical antipsychotics.
Zyprexa, Risperdal and Seroquel are among the 10 most commonly prescribed medications in the world, with annual sales estimated at $14.5 billion... [more]
Source : Los Angeles Times

Web Less Dangerous For Kids Than Feared Bullying By Bigger Threat Than Adult Sex Predators

A long awaited report from the Internet Safety Technical Task Force concludes that children and teens are less vulnerable to sexual predation than many have feared. The report also questions the efficacy and necessity of some commonly prescribed remedies designed to protect young people... [more] & [more]


Source : CBS News & Cyber Law Harvard

New Software Enable Invisibility-Cloak Breakthrough

David R. Smith of Duke and Tai Jun Cui of Southeast University, in Nanjing, China, led the work, which is a landmark in the field of metamaterials. Their cloak answers the naysayers who predicted that cloaks would always be narrowband and lossy. Even for physicists and engineers, the math involved in the theoretical design of cloaking devices is very difficult... [more]
Source : Technology Review

Female brain reacts to the sexual message of the male sweat

Everyone pretty well understands how people communicate through talking and facial expressions. But elsewhere in the animal kingdom, chemicals such as pheromones are commonly used to communicate, be it to attract a mate or warn a competitor. A woman may not consciously think of a man's sweat during intimate moments. But her brain appears to recognize the scent and the significance of the emotions it conveys right away... [more] & [more]
Source : Chron & Rice University

High-fat Diet: Disrupt The Balance Of Circadian Rhythms Our Biological Clock

Indulgence in a high-fat diet can not only lead to overweight because of excessive calorie intake, but also can affect the balance of circadian rhythms commonly known as the 24-hour biological clock. The biological clock regulates the expression and/or activity of enzymes and hormones involved in metabolism, and disturbance of the clock can lead to such phenomena as hormone imbalance, obesity, psychological and sleep disorders... [more]

Source : Hebrew University of Jerusalem

New wireless technology femtocells boost cellphone reception

A new wireless technology called femtocells could finally mean the end of crummy cellphone coverage in your home or office. A femtocell is a toaster-size plastic box that plugs into a regular broadband Internet connection. Once plugged in, the device emits a wireless cellular signal that's big enough to cover most houses... [more]

Source : Dallas News

Bionic sex chip that stimulates pleasure for the brain developed

Researchers are focusing on the orbitofrontal cortex, which is associated with feelings of pleasure caused by eating and sex. The technology, which creates tiny shocks deep in the brain, has already been used to treat Parkinson's disease. The chip works by sending tiny shocks from implanted electrodes in the brain... [more] & [more]
Source : Daily Mail & Thenewspointer.blogdns.com

Robotics expert warns we must protect vulnerable from robots

Top robotics expert Professor Noel Sharkey, of the University of Sheffield, has called for international guidelines to be set for the ethical and safe application of robots before it is too late. Professor Sharkey, writing in the prestigious Science journal, believes that as the use of robots increases, decisions about their application will be left to the military, industry and busy parents instead of international legislative bodies... [more]

Source : University of Sheffield

Innowattech Piezoelectric roads that generates electricity

The scientists in Israel say that cars travelling along a mile length of asphalt could generate more than 640 kilowatts - enough power to run 12 small cars. As vehicles pass over a road, they squeeze tiny piezoelectric crystals that produce a small amount of energy. The piezoelectric effect converts mechanical strain into electrical current or voltage and the system is expected to scale up to 400 kilowatts from a 1-kilometre stretch of dual carriageway. The IPEG is a pioneering invention in the field of Parasitic Energy harvesting and generates energy from weight, motion, vibration and temperature changes and will certainly have other parasitic energy harvesting applications in many fields... [more] & [more] & [more]
Source : Gizmag & Daily Mail & Innowattech

Talent Scout Software To Find Out The Next Music Superstar

The program is claimed to be able to spot upcoming pop artists weeks or months before they hit the big time by watching people share music on peer-to-peer file-sharing networks. But rather than spending its time listening to poor quality demos, the software tries to identify local spikes in interest in a particular artist, says Yuval Shavitt, a computer scientist at Tel Aviv University. Shavitt's predictions were based on information from a commercial service called Skyrider that tracks searches on the Gnutella peer-to-peer file sharing network. Because the network reveals the IP address of some users, Shavitt was able to track many of the search terms back to their geographical locations... [more] & [more] & [more]
Source : ABC News & Israel 21c & Telegraph

Obesity controlled by the brain genes associated with increased body mass

Seven new gene variants discovered by scientists suggest strongly that obesity is largely a mind problem. The findings suggest the brain plays the dominant role in controlling appetite, and that obesity cannot easily be blamed on metabolic flaws. This suggests that the brain's impact on appetite and eating behaviour may be more important that any genetic variation which alters the body's ability to lay down or burn up fat... [more] & [more]
Source : BBC & Thenewspointer.blogdns.com

Self-Healing Coatings Paint Additive Protect Cars, Bridges, And Ships From Corrosion

When a car's underbody or a ship's hull begins to corrode, it usually ends up junked. New protective coatings developed at the University of Illinois heal over their own scratches with no external intervention, protecting the underlying metal. The self-healing elements, enclosed in microcapsules that rip open when the coating is scratched, are compatible with a wide range of paints and protective coatings... [more]
Source : Technology Review

Sons or daughters? Boy or girl? It’s in the father's genes

A Newcastle University study involving thousands of families is helping prospective parents has shown that men inherit a tendency to have more sons or more daughters from their parents. This means that a man with many brothers is more likely to have sons, while a man with many sisters is more likely to have daughters... [more]

Source : Newcastle University

Yukiyasu Kamitani for the first time it is possible to visualise dreams directly from the brain

In a world first, a research group has succeeded in processing and displaying optically received images directly from the human brain. Yukiyasu Kamitani and Yoichi Miyawaki, NeuroInformatics Department, said about 100 million images can be read, adding that dreams as well as mental images are likely to be visualized in the future in the same manner. And even though they have only managed to reproduce simple images, they reckon they will eventually be used to figure out dreams and other secrets inside people's minds. By applying this technology, it may become possible to record and replay subjective images that people perceive like dreams... [more] & [more]
Source : The Daily Yomiuri & The Sun

HD 189733b the hot Jupiter planet with water

Scientists say they have found evidence for water vapour in the atmosphere of a planet 63 light-years from Earth. The "hot Jupiter" planet's surface temperatures exceed 900C. The planet known as HD 189733b is classed as a hot Jupiter due to its fiery molten centre and heavily gaseous atmosphere, which mimics the atmosphere of Jupiter... [more] & [more]


Source : BBC & San Francisco Chronicle

Amphetamines A Cure For Cocaine Addiction?

Over the years, maintenance treatment with methadone and other synthetic opiates like buprenorphine has proved successful — more than any other heroin-addiction therapy — in getting people off illicit drugs and lowering HIV transmission rates, crime and death among users. That success, in part, has got researchers wondering whether addiction to other drugs — namely to the stimulants cocaine and methamphetamine — could be curbed in the same way, by substituting a chemically similar alternative... [more]
Source : Time

Personal care products that contain harmful chemicals

The dirty dozen care products that might contain harmful chemicals
Deodorant, perfume, shaving cream, lip balm, lipstick, mascara, eye shadow, hair gel, mousse, hairspray, anti-aging serum, it all gets applied to your body, including all the chemicals within.
Eco-groups and environmental researchers have raised alarms about the cumulative health effects of many of the compounds found in personal-care products. While many industry experts say the products are safe, some scientists and others outside the industry disagree... [more]
Source : The Kansas City Star

Cold sore virus could be the the cause of 60 per cent of Alzheimer's cases

The virus HSV1 could offer hope to up to 60 per cent of Alzheimer's sufferers
The virus that causes cold sores may be one of the main causes of Alzheimer's disease, according to research that suggests that existing drugs could be used to treat the most comon form of dementia. Scientists have found new evidence that the herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV1) could be in up to 60 per cent of Alzheimer's cases... [more]
Source : Daily Mail

Happiness is infectious and collective not just individual

Happiness is also a collective phenomenon
If you’re happy and you know it, thank your friends—and their friends. And while you’re at it, their friends’ friends. But if you’re sad, hold the blame. Researchers from Harvard Medical School and the University of California, San Diego have found that “happiness” is not the result solely of a cloistered journey filled with individually tailored self-help techniques.
Happiness is also a collective phenomenon that spreads through social networks like an emotional contagion... [more]
Source : Harvard Medical School

New ways to manipulate the brain's plasticity making an old brain young

Neural plasticity how to rewire a brain?
New ways to manipulate neural plasticity--the brain's ability to rewire itself--could make adult brains as facile as young ones, at least in part. Drugs that target these mechanisms might eventually help treat neurological disorders as diverse as Alzheimer's, stroke, schizophrenia, and autism. But first scientists will need to figure out how to harness this rewiring capacity without damaging vital neural circuitry. Hensch and his collaborators have now found that basket-cell development is controlled by a protein called Otx2. 

Overexpressing this protein can trigger a critical period of plasticity, while removing Otx2 halts it. While the findings are specific to the visual system, Hensch notes that different sensory systems also possess basket cells, and those might function the same way... [more]
Source : Technology Review

Canadian Oil Sands environmental toll, new rules for waste

New rules for oil sands waste
Far north of Canada through a web of transcontinental pipelines down to a network of refineries ringing the Chicago area, a new supply of precious oil has begun flowing into the gas tanks of more Americans, tapped from a source so vast it could one day furnish close to half of U.S. oil needs for 50 years or more. Few American consumers know as they routinely fill up their tanks is that this new petroleum bonanza, drawn from dense, tarry deposits known as oil sands, ranks as what environmentalists call the dirtiest oil on the planet. Extracting it causes widespread ecological damage—and could accelerate global warming. Alberta is set to introduce new regulations that will require oil sands companies to better manage their waste from oil sands mines, a move that will reduce the environmental footprint of new projects but would also increase their cost. To produce crude from the oil sands, companies must strip bitumen away from the grains of sand it comes mixed with. As the bitumen is extremely sticky, not all of it can be removed, and the remaining blend of sand, water, clay and bitumen - called tailings - is dumped in vast ponds, where the material settles and water can be recycled… [more]
Source : Thenewspointer.blogdns

Men of higher intelligence tend to produce better quality sperm

Intelligent 'have better sperm'
A team from the Institute of Psychiatry analysed data from former US soldiers who served during the Vietnam war era. They found that those who performed better on intelligence tests tended to have more and more mobile sperm... [more]
Source : BBC

FBI Copper Thefts Threaten US Critical Infrastructure

Criminal Groups Involved in Copper Thefts
Copper thieves are threatening US critical infrastructure by targeting electrical sub-stations, cellular towers, telephone land lines, railroads, water wells, construction sites, and vacant homes for lucrative profits. The theft of copper from these targets disrupts the flow of electricity, telecommunications, transportation, water supply, heating, and security and emergency services and presents a risk to both public safety and national security. Copper thieves are typically individuals or organized groups who operate independently or in loose association with each other and commit thefts in conjunction with fencing activities and the sale of contraband. Organized groups of drug addicts, gang members, and metal thieves are conducting large scale thefts from electric utilities, warehouses, foreclosed or vacant properties, and oil well sites for tens of thousands of dollars in illicit proceeds per month... [more]
Source : FBI

Giving off pheromones the smell of fear is real

How the smell of fear spreads panic
People can unconsciously detect whether someone is stressed or scared by smelling a chemical pheromone released in their sweat, according to researchers who have investigated the underarm secretions of petrified skydivers. The research was funded by the US Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency – the Pentagon's military research wing – raising speculation that it is a first step to isolating the fear pheromone for use in warfare, perhaps to induce terror in enemy troops. But DARPA denied that it had any military plans for fear pheromones or plans to fund further research into the field... [more]
Source : Guardian

Why We Remember Important Things And Forget Irrelevant Details?

Neuron's Synapses Remodel Themselves
Where would we be without our ability to remember important information or, for that matter, to forget irrelevant details? Thanks to the flexibility of the nerve cell's communication units, called synapses, we are good at both. Up to now, only the receiving side of a synapse was believed to play an active role in this reorganization of the brain, which is thought to underlie our ability to learn but also to forget... [more]


Source : Science Daily

3DTV could be a reality by 2018 with holographic images floating in mid air

Starwars style holographic 3DTV
The ultimate 3D experience, using fully interactive floating holographic images - similar to that which is seen when Princess Leia appears in front of Luke Skywalker as a hologram in Star Wars - could be on the market by 2018. It's likely that within three years we will see a TV on the market which will use autostereo systems to create 3D images, so that viewers do not need to wear traditional 3D glasses. However, in ten years time it is highly probable that TV using holographic images which would appear to float as if in mid air will be available for consumers to purchase... [more]
Source : University of Aberdeen

How Daily News Stole Empire State Building In 90 Minutes

It took 90 minutes for Daily News to 'steal' the Empire State Building. In one of the biggest heists in American history, the Daily News "stole" the $2 billion Empire State Building. The News swiped the 102-story Art Deco skyscraper by drawing up a batch of bogus documents, making a fake notary stamp and filing paperwork with the city to transfer the deed to the property... [more]


Source : Daily News

UK Telephone lie detector catches benefit cheats

Lie detector technology which monitors callers to catch benefit cheats
Telephone lie detector technology could be used to trap benefit cheats by identifying subtle changes in their voices. People who phone to claim housing and council tax benefits have their voices monitored by the high-tech software, which indicates if they are giving false details. Callers are initially asked basic questions, such as their name and address, so the software becomes used to the pitch and tone of their voice... [more]
Source : Daily Mail

To help prevent cognitive decline exercise builds small blood vessels in the brain

Exercise to prevent cognitive decline
People who engaged in long-term, regular exercise had substantially more small blood vessels in their brains and more blood flow than people who performed little exercise over the years, now researchers think they know one reason why... [more]


Source : Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

How Cells Age The Universal Mechanism Of Aging

Parallels between mice and yeast uncover a potentially universal aging mechanism
The SIRT1 protein long associated with age-related disease, clusters around chromosomes in the nucleus of a mouse cell. In young organisms, SIRT1 effectively doubles as a gene-expression regulator and a DNA repairer. But when DNA damage accumulates—as it does with age—SIRT1 becomes too busy fixing broken DNA to keep the expression of hundreds of genes in check. This process is so similar to what happens in aging yeast that its discoverers believe it may represent a universal mechanism of aging... [more]
Source : Technology Review

Pedometers For Roman Carriages

Rome carriage horses to get 'black boxes' for a more stable life
Under plans drawn up by Rome city council, all horses will be equipped with pedometers the equine equivalent of a taxi meter, which will also work as a kind of black box. It will tell how many hours a horse has worked and whether the obligatory breaks have been observed. Horses would also be fitted with microchips recording the animal's identity, age and history... [more]
Source : Timesonline

Ethics And The Military Robots

Robots On The Battlefield
In the heat of battle, their minds clouded by fear, anger or vengefulness, even the best-trained soldiers can act in ways that violate the Geneva Conventions or battlefield rules of engagement. Now some researchers suggest that robots could do better. “My research hypothesis is that intelligent robots can behave more ethically in the battlefield than humans currently can,” said Ronald C. Arkin, a computer scientist at Georgia Tech, who is designing software for battlefield robots under contract with the Army... [more]
Source : Newyork Times

Rain-making bacteria in the atmosphere identified

Atmospheric microbes that may influence the water cycle
Bacteria and biological cells are the most efficient ice-forming catalysts in precipitation from locations around the globe. The formation of ice in clouds is important in the processes that lead to snow and rain. Ice nucleating bacteria – which have been referred to as “rain-making bacteria” – may be significant triggers of freezing in clouds and influence the water cycle. Most known ice-nucleating bacteria are plant pathogens, which are basically germs that can cause disease and freezing injury in plants... [more]
Source : Louisiana State University

Grow your own ograns - First transplant of a whole organ grown in lab

A 30-year-old Spanish woman has made medical history by becoming the first patient to receive a whole organ transplant grown using her own cells. Experts said the development opened a new era in surgery in which the repair of worn-out body parts would be carried out with personally customised replacements... [more] & [more] & [more]



Source : Independent & Timesonline & Telegraph

Kangaroo genes linked to humans

The first detailed map of the kangaroo genome has revealed "great chunks" of the human genome, proving that humans are more closely related to roos than previously thought. Unveiled by Australian researchers, the kangaroo genome has about 20,000 genes. It will allow scientists to trace back 150 million years to when the kangaroo shared an ancestor with humans... [more] & [more]
Source : The Age & The Australian

Wind and Sun Power the Ricoh Eco Friendly Billboard on Times Square

Powered by 16 wind turbines and 64 solar panels, the sign is expected to save $12,000 to $15,000 per month in electricity costs. Ricoh, an office equipment and document storage supplier, estimates the sign will also keep 18 tons of carbon out of the environment. he billboard will be lit by floodlights rather than light-emitting diodes.
It won't have a backup generator, so it could go dark during a long period with little wind or sun... [more]


Source : IHT

Researchers discover the origin of Shar Pei dogs wrinkles

A group of researchers have discovered the origin of the mucinosis present in Shar Pei dogs, a hereditary disorder responsible for the characteristic wrinkles found in this breed. The genetic alteration in this breed which multiplies the activity of an enzyme responsible for an excessive production of hyaluronic acid, a substance which gathers under the skin and produces wrinkles. Understanding this molecular mechanism will give way to new reproduction programmes aimed at improving the health of these animals. It also will be used to learn more about human disorders such as Familial Mediterranean Fever or mucinosis, and to gain more knowledge on the ageing process... [more]
Source : Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

United Nation Asian skies poisoned by clouds of pollution

A noxious cocktail of soot, smog and toxic chemicals is blotting out the sun, fouling the lungs of millions of people and altering weather patterns in large parts of Asia according the United Nations. The byproduct of automobiles, slash-and-burn agriculture, wood-burning kitchen stoves and coal-fired power plants, these plumes of carbon dust rise over southern Africa, the Amazon basin and North America but are most pronounced in Asia, where so-called atmospheric brown clouds are dramatically reducing sunlight in many Chinese cities and leading to decreased crop yields in swaths of rural India... [more]
Source : IHT

Time-Reversed Sound Waves Locate Defects, Predict Earthquakes

Retrace your steps. It's a good way to find lost items: your glasses, your keys the TV remote. It can also be a good scientific way to find things. The Los Alamos geophysicist heads a team that uses time reversal—a technique that relies on the ability of waves to retrace their steps to their source—to find defects inside mechanical parts or to locate the sources of earthquakes deep underground. Time reversal is quite different from most techniques that use waves as locators. Time reversal achieves this great advantage over other wave-locator methods by using the information contained in all of the waves that reach a sensor during the recording interval, including waves of different types, waves that come directly from the source, and waves reflected from boundaries... [more]
Source : Los Alamos National Laboratory