Research news: American West heating nearly twice as fast as rest of world

The News:
American West Heating Nearly Twice As Fast As Rest Of World, New Analysis Shows
ScienceDaily (Mar. 30, 2008) — The American West is heating up more rapidly than the rest of the world, according to a new analysis of the most recent federal government temperature figures. The news is especially bad for some of the nation’s fastest growing cities, which receive water from the drought-stricken Colorado River. The average temperature rise in the Southwest’s largest river basin was more than double the average global increase, likely spelling even more parched conditions.
“Global warming is hitting the West hard,” said Theo Spencer of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). “It is already taking an economic toll on the region’s tourism, recreation, skiing, hunting and fishing activities. The speed of warming and mounting economic damage make clear the urgent need to limit global warming pollution.” more...

The Research:
Read the research behind this story in the National Resources Defense Council report entitled Hotter and Drier: The West's Changed Climate

Research News: Nose can literally sniff out danger

The News:
Nose can literally sniff out danger
An emotional memory, especially a bad one, can sharpen the sense of smell.
By Lauran Neergaard The Associated Press
Article Last Updated: 03/28/2008 02:31:16 AM MDT
WASHINGTON — Know how a whiff of certain odors can take you back in time, to either a great memory or a bad one? It turns out emotion plays an even bigger role with the nose and that your sense of smell can sharpen when something bad happens.

The Research:
Read the research behind this story in the journal Science.

Research News: Preemie study shows kids' risk

The News:
Preemie study shows kids' risk
Norwegian research on premature births shows higher rates of death in childhood and childlessness.
By Carla K. Johnson The Associated Press
Article Last Updated: 03/25/2008 10:49:19 PM MDT
CHICAGO — The largest-ever study of the long-term consequences of premature birth finds that children born early have higher death rates in childhood and are more likely to be childless in adulthood. Experts called the research significant because it followed 1.2 million Norwegian births over decades. It also raises questions about future risks for even tinier babies saved today by modern medicine.

The Research:
Read the research behind this story in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

Research News: Science and Bible agree: It is better to give

The News:
Science and Bible agree: It is better to give
By Randolph E. Schmid
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - The Bible counsels misers that it's better to give than to receive. Science agrees. People who made gifts to others or to charities said they were happier than those who did not share, according to a series of experiments reported in today's issue of the journal Science. While past studies have shown that having more money can boost happiness, researchers at the University of British Columbia and Harvard University wondered if the way people spent it made any difference.

The Research:
Read the research behind this story in the journal Science and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Research News: Study: Age of blood may affect patients

The News:
Study: Age of blood may affect patients
By MIKE STOBBE AP Medical Writer
Article Last Updated: 03/20/2008 06:03:15 PM MDT
ATLANTA—Heart surgery patients were more likely to die or suffer problems if they received transfusions of blood that is more than two weeks old rather than fresher blood, according to a new study that adds to the debate about the shelf life of blood. Although not the final word, the study underscores concerns that blood deteriorates with age and that rules allowing blood to be stored for six weeks may pose a safety risk, at least for certain patients.

The Research:
Read the research behind this story in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Read an editorial about this story in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Research News: Side effects of prostate-cancer treatments get scrutiny

The News:
Side effects of prostate-cancer treatments get scrutiny
By Mike Stobbe The Associated Press
Article Last Updated: 03/19/2008 11:58:12 PM MDT
ATLANTA — One of the first large quality-of-life studies on today's prostate-cancer treatments suggests that for some men, it's a matter of picking your poison and facing potential sexual, urinary or other problems. Of the choices studied — surgery, standard radiation, hormone therapy or radioactive seeds — the seeds seemed to carry a lower risk of several of these side effects. Hormone therapy — when combined with radiation — had a big effect on men's vitality and sexuality. The radioactive pellets sometimes led to sexual problems too, but more often involved discomfort in urinating.

The Research:
Read the research behind this story in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Research News: Gene may tell who will develop PTSD

The News:
Gene may tell who will develop PTSD
A study says child abuse affects a stress-related gene, increasing chances of getting the disorder.
By Lindsey Tanner The Associated Press
Article Last Updated: 03/18/2008 11:34:09 PM MDT
CHICAGO — Groundbreaking research suggests genes help explain why some people can recover from a traumatic event while others suffer post-traumatic stress disorder. Though preliminary, the study provides insight into a condition expected to strike increasing numbers of military veterans returning from combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, one health expert said. Researchers found that specific variations in a stress-related gene appeared to be influenced by trauma at a young age — in this case child abuse. That interaction strongly increased the chances for adult survivors of abuse to develop signs of PTSD.

The Research:
Read the research behind this story in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Research News: Author Arthur C. Clarke dies

The News:
Author Arthur C. Clarke dies
CNN - Author Arthur C. Clarke, whose science fiction and non-fiction works ranged from the script for "2001: A Space Odyssey" to an early proposal for communications satellites, has died at age 90, associates have said.

Research news: Greenhouse gas emissions rise in China

The News:
Greenhouse Gas Emissions Rise in China
by Richard Harris
All Things Considered, March 14, 2008 · China's carbon dioxide emissions are growing much faster than anticipated and are on pace to double during this decade. Forecasts of global warming don't take this growth into account, so scientists may be underestimating how fast the planet will heat up.

When scientists last tried to project China's contribution to global warming, it was the late 1990s. Asia was in a recession and China's emissions weren't growing particularly fast.

But Maximilian Auffhammer of the University of California, Berkeley, says things have changed radically since then. Since 2000, carbon dioxide emissions have been "off the charts," he says.

For example, in 2004, emissions from China grew by 14 percent — or the equivalent of an additional Germany or England.

Auffhammer and a colleague have used detailed information from within China to estimate what emissions will be like through the end of the decade. His forecast is being published in the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management. more...

The Research:
Read the research behind this story in the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management

Research news: Discovery casts doubt on "hobbit" theory

The News:
Discovery Casts Doubt on 'Hobbit' Theory
Talk of the Nation, March 14, 2008 · The discovery of unusual skeletal remains on the islands of Palau suggests that the so-called "hobbits" found several years ago in Indonesia may have been dwarf humans, not a separate species.
Researchers report that they discovered parts of human skeletons between 900 and 2,800 years old in caves on the Pacific islands of Palau. The researchers say that the remains, though quite small, are clearly those of modern humans. more...

The Research:
Read the research behind this story in the journal PLoS One.

Research news: Most American Indians' DNA is traced to six women

The News:
Most American Indians' DNA is traced to six women
A new study indicates the women migrated to North America from a land bridge about 20,000 years ago.
By Malcolm Ritter The Associated Press
Article Last Updated: 03/14/2008 01:55:05 AM MDT
NEW YORK — Nearly all of today's American Indians in North, Central and South America can trace their ancestry to just six women whose descendants immigrated about 20,000 years ago, a DNA study suggests.
The result doesn't mean that only six women gave rise to the migrants who crossed into North America from Asia in the initial populating of the continent.
Rather, it suggests that only six left a particular DNA legacy that persists today in about about 95 percent of American Indians, said the study's co-author, Ugo Perego in Utah.
The women didn't necessarily arrive together, nor even all live at the same time, he said. Results indicate the women arrived between 18,000 and 21,000 years ago.
The work was published this week by the journal PLoS One. Perego is from the Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation in Salt Lake City and the University of Pavia in Italy. more...

The Research:
Read the research behind this story in the journal PLoS One.

Research news: Domestication of the donkey may have taken a long time

The News:
Domestication Of The Donkey May Have Taken A Long Time
ScienceDaily (Mar. 13, 2008) — An international group of researchers has found evidence for the earliest transport use of the donkey and the early phases of donkey domestication, suggesting the process of domestication may have been slower and less linear than previously thought.
Based on a study of 10 donkey skeletons from three graves dedicated to donkeys in the funerary complex of one of the first Pharaoh's at Abydos, Egypt, the team, led by Fiona Marshall, Ph.D., professor of Anthropology at Washington University in St. Louis, and Stine Rossel of the University of Copenhagen, found that donkeys around 5,000 years ago were in an early phase of domestication. They looked like wild animals but displayed joint wear that showed that they were used as domestic animals.
"Genetic research has suggested African origins for the donkey," said Marshall. "But coming up with an exact time and location for domestication is difficult because signs of early domestication can be hard to see. Our findings show that traces of human management can indicate domestication before skeletal or even genetic change. more...

The Research:
Read the research behind this story in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Research news: Students with cell phones may take more risks, study finds

The News:
Students With Cell Phones May Take More Risks, Study Finds
ScienceDaily (Mar. 5, 2008) — Carrying a cell phone may cause some college students – especially women – to take risks with their safety, a new study suggests. A survey of 305 students at one campus found that 40 percent of cell phone users said they walked somewhere after dark that they normally wouldn’t go.
A separate survey found that about three-quarters of students said that carrying a cell phone while walking alone at night made them feel somewhat or a lot safer.
“Students seem to feel less vulnerable when they carry a cell phone, although there’s not evidence that they really are,” said Jack Nasar, co-author of the study and professor of city and regional planning at Ohio State University.
“If anything, they are probably less safe because they are paying less attention to their surroundings.”
Nasar conducted the study with Peter Hecht of Temple University in Philadelphia and Richard Wener of Brooklyn Polytechnic University in New York. Their results were published in a recent issue of the International Journal of Urban and Regional Research. more...

The Research:
Read the research behind this story in the International Journal of Urban and Regional Research.

Research news: Kids of afflicted parents face risk of Alzheimer's

The News:
Kids of afflicted parents face risk of Alzheimer's
A study shows children are more likely to end up with Alzheimer's if both parents suffered from the disease.
By Carla K. JohnsonThe Associated Press
Article Last Updated: 03/11/2008 06:20:00 AM MDT
CHICAGO — One parent with Alzheimer's disease is tough enough, but imagine the memory-robbing illness striking both parents — and knowing chances are high you'll get it too. A study of more than 100 families for the first time gauges the size of that risk.
"I'm scared," said Jackie Lustig, 52, of Sudbury, Mass., whose father died of Alzheimer's and whose mother is living it. "I'm hoping to heck that the pharmaceutical companies come up with something better than there is now. It's not a nice way to go."
The study, appearing in March's Archives of Neurology, found more than 22 percent of the adult children of 111 couples with Alz heimer's had the disease themselves. Risk grew with age. Among offspring older than 60, more than 30 percent were affected. In those older than 70, nearly 42 percent had the disease.
Prior studies have found a 6 to 13 percent prevalence of the disease in the U.S. population older than 65.
At age 62, Gayle Dorman worries every time she misplaces her car keys. "Is this the day I'm going to start losing it?" she wonders. more...

The Research:
Read the research behind this story in the journal Archives of Neurology.

Research news: Pharmaceuticals fouling U.S. drinking water

The News:
Pharmaceuticals fouling U.S. drinking water
A five-month study finds a variety of drugs in water supplies - and growing concern among experts.
By Jeff Donn, Martha Mendoza and Justin Pritchard The Associated Press
Article Last Updated: 03/10/2008 01:15:50 AM MDT
A vast array of pharmaceuticals — including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones — has been found in the drinking-water supplies of at least 41 million Americans, an Associated Press investigation shows.
To be sure, the concentrations of these pharmaceuticals are tiny, measured in parts per billion or trillion, far below the levels of a medical dose. Also, utilities insist their water is safe. more...
also, this related article
Low-level drugs show signs of being harmful
By Jeff Donn The Associated Press
Article Last Updated: 03/10/2008 01:13:30 AM MDT
Troubled by drugs discovered in European waters, poisons expert and biologist Francesco Pomati set up an experiment: He exposed developing human kidney cells to a mixture of 13 drugs at levels mimicking those found in Italian rivers.
There were drugs to fight high cholesterol, high blood pressure, seizures, depression, pain, infection and cancer, but all in tiny amounts.
The result: The pharmaceutical blend slowed cell growth by up to a third — suggesting that scant amounts might exert powerful effects, said Pomati, who works at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. more...

The Research:
Read the research reported in the story "Low-level drugs show signs of being harmful", in the journal Environmental science and pollution research.

Research news: More than meets the ear in successful cocktail party conversations

The News:
More Than Meets The Ear In Successful Cocktail Party Conversations
ScienceDaily (Mar. 8, 2008) — Just picture the scene: you're at a cocktail party, talking to someone you would like to get to know better but the background noise is making it hard to concentrate. Luckily, humans are very gifted at listening to someone speaking while many other people are talking loudly at the same time. This so-called cocktail-party-phenomenon is based on the ability of the human auditory system to decompose the acoustic world into discrete objects of perception.
It was originally believed that the major acoustic cue used by the auditory system to solve this task was directional information of the sound source, but even though localisation of different sound sources with two ears improves the performance, it can be achieved monaurally, for example in telephone conversations, where no directional information is available.
Scientists led by Holger Schulze at the Leibniz-Institute for Neurobiology in Magdeburg, and the Universities of Ulm, Newcastle and Erlangen have now found a neuronal mechanism in the auditory system that is able to solve the task based on the analysis of the temporal fine structure of the acoustic scene. Different speakers have different temporal fine structure in their voiced speech and that such signals are represented in different areas of the auditory cortex according to this different time structure. more...

The Research:
Read the research behind this story in the journal PLoS One.

Research news: It Took Eons to Make Grand Canyon Grand

The News:
It Took Eons to Make Grand Canyon Grand
How old is the Grand Canyon? Study says it took longer than once thought to become grand
By LAURAN NEERGAARD Associated Press Writer AP
Mar 6, 2008
Gazing into the majestic Grand Canyon, awe-struck visitors inevitably ask: "How old is it?" Far older than generally thought, says new evidence that scientists culled from caves lining the canyon's red limestone cliffs.
The Grand Canyon often is referred to as about 6 million years old _ but its western half actually began to open at least 17 million years ago, a University of New Mexico team reports Friday in the journal Science.
Wait: The western side of the canyon is the downstream end of the Colorado River, so how could it be older than the arguably more spectacular eastern side?
Remember, geologists caution, that the Grand Canyon was carved from drainage systems that didn't turn into the single river we now know as the Colorado until roughly 6 million years ago. The new research suggests two canyons formed that eventually joined. And it makes sense that the older side would even look different, less jagged, thanks to more years of gravity and wind erosion to soften its edges.
"This is really exciting for those of us who work in the stories and theories of how the Grand Canyon has evolved," Arizona geologist Wayne Ranney, author of "Carving the Grand Canyon," said of the new work. "This paper helps us to more clearly understand that different parts of the canyon formed at different times. That's how big the Grand Canyon is." more...

The Research:
Read the research behind this story in the journal Science.

Research news: More men taking on bigger load of chores, child care

The News:
More men taking on bigger load of chores, child care
While it's still not evenly divided, a greater portion of housework is being done by U.S. men. And an expert suggests that the reward could be more sex.
By David Crary The Associated Press
Article Last Updated: 03/06/2008 02:01:44 AM MST
NEW YORK — American men still don't pull their weight when it comes to housework and child care, but collectively they're not the slackers that they used to be.
The average dad has gradually been getting better about picking himself up off the sofa and pitching in, according to a new report in which a psychologist suggests that the payoff for doing more chores could be more sex.
The report, released today by the Council on Contemporary Families, summarizes several recent studies on family dynamics. One found that men's contribution to housework had doubled over the past four decades; another found they tripled the time spent on child care over that span.
"More couples are sharing family tasks than ever before, and the movement toward sharing has been especially significant for full-time, dual-earner couples," the report says. "Men and women may not be fully equal yet, but the rules of the game have been profoundly and irreversibly changed."
more...

The Research:
Read the research behind this story in a report released by the Council on Contemporary Families.

Research news: Colon threats elude testers

The News:
Colon threats elude testers
Flat growths, not polyps, pose the bigger cancer threat, says a new study expected to change care.
By Carla K. Johnson The Associated Press
Article Last Updated: 03/05/2008 01:54:23 AM MST
CHICAGO — Flat growths on the colon wall are more common in Americans than previously thought and more likely to be cancerous than the more familiar knobby masses known as polyps, a new study finds.
New techniques can locate and remove the flat growths, but many doctors aren't aware of their cancer risk and may not know how to look for them. The findings are likely to change the practice of colonoscopy, experts said, and may explain some colon cancers that arise between colonoscopies.
"I think it is very important. It's going to intensify the need for quality screening," said Dr. Stephen Hanauer, gastroenterology chief at the University of Chicago, who was not involved in the study. "You're not going to be able to do seven-minute colonoscopies."
The growths tend to be smaller when they are cancerous — the size of a nickel instead of a quarter — and are level with the colon wall or depressed like a pothole. They blend in with the surrounding tissue and are difficult to spot.
"They look like a pancake just lying on the floor," said the study's lead author, Dr. Roy Soetikno of the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System in California. more...

The Research:
Read the research behind this story in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Research news: Snow flurries, bacteria likely

The News:
Snow Flurries, Bacteria Likely
by Christopher Joyce
All Things Considered, March 3, 2008 · Next time you're in a snowstorm, look up — and get a face-full of bacteria. It turns out there are bacteria up in the clouds, and some of them actually create ice crystals.
The inspiration for this research started in Montana. Brent Christner had a colleague there who was puzzled by some nasty plant bacteria that kept infecting his wheat crops. No matter what he did, he couldn't get rid of them. He suspected they might be airborne. So, Christner says, his friend cooked up a strange experiment involving a petri dish and an airplane.
He flew up in the airplane, "opened a window and held a petri plate outside," Christner explains. And in fact, bacteria grew.
The bacteria — which normally live on plants — were falling out of the sky. more...

The Research:
Read the research behind this story in the journal Science.

Research news: How Roots Find A Route Around Obstacles In The Soil

The News:
How Roots Find A Route Around Obstacles In The Soil
ScienceDaily (Mar. 3, 2008) — Scientists at the John Innes Centre in Norwich have discovered how roots find their way past obstacles to grow through soil. The discovery, described in the forthcoming edition of Science, also explains how germinating seedlings penetrate the soil without pushing themselves out as they burrow.
"The key is in the fuzzy coat of hairs on the roots of plants" says Professor Liam Dolan. "We have identified a growth control mechanism that enables these hairs to find their way and to elongate when their path is clear."
Root hairs explore the soil in much the same way as a person would feel their way in the dark. If they come across an obstacle, they feel their way around until they can continue growing in an opening. In the meantime, the plant is held in place as the hairs grip the soil. more...

The Research:
Read the research behind this story in the journal Science.