Curated News: Top Hit Stories

• share
• favorite_border

UK researchers stumbled across several hundred dinosaur footprints in a coastal lagoon on the Isle of Skye, which they dated to the Middle Jurassic, 170 million years ago. The researchers, which include Stephen Brusatte from the University of Edinburgh, UK and his colleague Tom Challands, surmise that the footprints were left by sauropods, primitive cousins of the more famous Brontosaurus and Diplodocus. The largest of the footprints measure around 70 centimetres across, larger than those that would have been left by T. Rex. This find is the largest dinosaur site found in Scotland to date. The researchers report their findings in the Scottish Journal of Geology.

• share
• favorite_border

Dr. Yoichi Ochi of Tsukuba University and his team have come up with an unique way to display 3D holograms that are touchable using a technology called femtosecond laser technology. The technology uses pulses that can be manipulated with human touch. Combined with mirrors and cameras, the rapid, high-intensity lasers direct tiny light points called voxels in certain directions to produce images of up to 200,000 dots per second of resolution.

• share
• favorite_border

Findings, recently published in the journal Science Advances, show that snakes did not lose their limbs in order to live in the sea, as has been previously suggested. The research led by scientists at the University of Edinburgh’s School of GeoSciences involves the analysis of a 90-year old reptilian fossil of Dinilysia patagonica, a 2-meter long reptile. Computed tomography (CT) scans of the bony inner ear of Dinilysia patagonica reveals how this ancestor to modern snakes became adept at burrowing.

• share
• favorite_border

According to a study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, brains can't really fit into the categories of "male" or "female" -- their distinguishing features actually vary across a spectrum. Researchers led by University of Tel-Aviv studied brain scans of some 1,400 individuals and could not find a single pattern that distinguishes between a male brain and a female brain.

• share
• favorite_border

Using a computer model, scientists were able to show that Tribrachidium, a disc shaped seas creature that lived about 555-million-years ago, fed by collecting particles suspended in water. This is called suspension feeding and it had not previously been documented in organisms from this period of time.

• share
• favorite_border

Research out of Melbourne University’s Oral Health Cooperative Research Centre tested a wide rage of sugar-free soft drinks and found that many of them can be just as harmful to teeth as their sugared counterparts due to acidic additives.

• share
• favorite_border

The World Meteorological Organization, the weather agency of the United Nations announced on Wednesday that 2015 is the hottest year on record, breaching the symbolic and significant milestone of 1 degree Celsius above the pre-industrial era. The report comes the week before world leaders assemble in Paris to try to negotiate an agreement to fight climate change. Records go back to 1880.

• share
• favorite_border

A study recently published online on November 23rd in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that that those who breastfed were a great deal less likely -- up to 50 percent less -- to develop diabetes 2 in subsequent years than those who did not breast feed.

• share
• favorite_border

A study published in the journal, Nature, adds to growing evidence that the people of Europe’s DNA underwent widespread changes, altering their height, digestion, immune system and skin color with the spread of agriculture.

• share
• favorite_border

Scientist led by Linköping University in Sweden have created cyborg roses with tiny electronic circuits threaded through their vascular systems.

• share
• favorite_border

On Thursday, the Food and Drug Administration announced that it has approved the first genetically modified food animal, the genetically engineered salmon. According to the FDA press release, "the AquAdvantage Salmon is as safe to eat as any non-genetically engineered (GE) Atlantic salmon, and also as nutritious." Experts needed.

• share
• favorite_border

According to a report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, rates of sexually transmitted diseases like chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis climbed considerably in the U.S. in 2014. The center called the increases "alarming." The new data also show that among the more than 3,000 counties in the nation, Los Angeles County had the most cases of all three diseases in 2014.

• share
• favorite_border

On Tuesday, the American Medical Association called a ban on direct-to-consumer prescription drugs ads. They say the ads drive up the demand for more expensive treatments. Experts Need for this topic.

• share
• favorite_border

A tooth fossil, believed to be about 110,000 years old, has yielded DNA from a vanished branch of the human tree, mysterious cousins called the Denisovans. The tooth was found in a cave in Siberia in 2010. Scientists describe their newest Denisovan DNA analysis in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

• share
• favorite_border

Chagas Disease, all a deadly bug-borne infection, Is spreading in Texas. Chagas is transmitted via the "kissing bug."

• share
• favorite_border

The Delmarva fox squirrel (Sciurus niger cinereus) has recovered and will no longer need the protection of the Endangered Species Act. This rather large species of squirrel, spanning over 75cm in length, was one the first species to be protected under the Endangered Species Act of 1967. The massive squirrel was nearly wiped out by hunting and deforestation.

• share
• favorite_border

Most bats roost by hanging from their feet, which means they must land upside down on cave ceilings. And to stick the landing, they employ similar mechanics as skateboarders and pirouetting figure skaters, according to a new study in PLOS Biology.

• share
• favorite_border

A report by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) warns that the widespread practice of giving antibiotics to livestock for growth promotion and the prevention of disease among animals in agriculture is making the drugs ineffective when they are needed to treat infections in people.

• share
• favorite_border

A new report by the World Bank reveals that climate change could force more that 100 million into living under the poverty line by 2030, thusly eliminating any gains.

• share
• favorite_border

Scientists have found the "fourth strand" of European ancestry. This population, discovered in the Caucasus mountains of Western Georgia survived for thousands of years, isolated from the rest of Europe due to the Ice Age. A small but significant portion of Europe's genome is derived from this unique population of hunter-gatherers, who came out of hiding, and mixed with the Yamnaya culture, which swept into Western Europe about 5,000 years ago.

• share
• favorite_border

Johns Hopkins Children’s Center specialists report they have successfully treated and put in remission a 2-year-old, now age 5, with a highly virulent form of tuberculosis known as XDR TB, or extensively drug-resistant TB.

• share
• favorite_border

Astronomers using data from NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope have detected hints of periodic changes in the brightness of a so-called "active" galaxy, whose emissions are powered by a supersized black hole. If confirmed, the discovery would mark the first years-long cyclic gamma-ray emission ever detected from any galaxy, which could provide new insights into physical processes near the black hole.

• share
• favorite_border

Residents of the northeastern city of Shenyang in China donned gas masks and locked themselves indoors on Sunday after their city was enveloped by some of the worst levels of smog on record. Pollution readings were about 50 times higher than that considered safe by the World Health Organization.

• share
• favorite_border

In a study published in Science, researchers present new evidence that Earth has had its water since the very beginning, and did not arrive via asteroid as previously thought.

• share
• favorite_border

It is expected to be the largest telescope ever built. In a US led project, ground has been broken for the construction of the Giant Magellan Telescope, which will be built atop Cerro Las Campanas in Chile.

• share
• favorite_border

A new study published in Science offers clues as to why large large vertebrates disappear and take quite a lot time to come back, and return in much smaller size.

• share
• favorite_border

GJ 1132b is only 39 light years away. That's nearly a neighbor on the cosmic scale. It may be the closest Earth-size planet we've discovered. However, it most likely resembles Venus as far as surface temperatures.

• share
• favorite_border

New findings on Egypt's Khufu pyramid may indicate secret chambers.

• share
• favorite_border

Click to read today's top stories.

• share
• favorite_border

Click to view today's top stories.

• share
• favorite_border

Click to see today's top stories.

• share
• favorite_border

Click to see today's top stories.

• share
• favorite_border

Click to view today's top stories

• share
• favorite_border

Click to read today's top stories.

• share
• favorite_border

The Natufian culture, which flourished 15,000 years ago, is well known for its complex burial customs. A new study by Dr. Danny Rosenberg and Prof. Dani Nadel of the University of Haifa has discovered that these ceremonies included the use of giant boulder mortars whose pounding sound informed the community that a ceremony was being held

• share
• favorite_border

Findings are the first to shed light on the genetic differences between DiGeorge syndrome patients with autism and those with psychosis.

• share
• favorite_border

Weekend edition including top stories from Friday through Monday July 24-27

• share
• favorite_border

Other topics include ethnic disparities in pain treatment, colon cancer and IBD, halting Liver cancer, and more...

• share
• favorite_border

Study suggests that drugs targeting the lymphotoxin-beta receptor may improve liver cancer treatment.

• share
• favorite_border

UCLA scientists have discovered a groundbreaking experimental therapy that has the ability to suppress the development of ulcerative colitis (UC), a disease which causes inflammation in the digestive tract and colon cancer. The treatment utilizes a chemical inhibitor able to block an RNA molecule (microRNA-214) involved in the transmission of genetic information.

• share
• favorite_border

A new study by researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine reveals a protein’s critical – and previously unknown -- role in the development and progression of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a fast-growing and extremely difficult-to-treat blood cancer. The study was published July 23 in Cell Stem Cell.

• share
• favorite_border

-Breakthrough reveals gene’s influence in a vulnerable period of the brain’s development -Researchers hope it could offer a therapeutic target for reversing the disease -“Strong evidence” that subtle changes early on in life can lead to “much bigger” effects in adulthood

• share
• favorite_border

When compared with other ethnicities, Asians are the most unsatisfied with the health care they received in the United States, previous research has shown. This dissatisfaction with health care partly is caused by health practices in the U.S. clashing with the practices Asian patients and families may be more used to experiencing overseas. Now, researchers at the University of Missouri have found that health care providers perceive South Asians living in the U.S. to be more reluctant than other ethnicities to report pain as well as seek medications to treat the pain they experience near the end of their lives. Researchers say this finding provides an opportunity for health care professionals to deliver better culturally responsive care to South Asian patients and their families.

• share
• favorite_border

Researchers in the Division of Hematology, Oncology and Blood & Marrow Transplantation at CHLA have shown greatly improved outcomes in using stem cell transplantation to treat patients with a serious but very rare form of chronic blood cancer called juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia (JMML).

• share
• favorite_border

A premier cancer research partnership at New Mexico State University is not only fostering extensive cancer research activity, it also is developing the next generation of cancer scientists and a new level of outreach, primarily to underserved populations across New Mexico.

• share
• favorite_border

ASTRO concerned about access to care for patients with cancer, particularly in rural and underserved areas

• share
• favorite_border

Other topics include editing genes, cellular switchboards, treating menopause and more...

• share
• favorite_border

A new review article published in the American Journal of Physiology–Endocrinology and Metabolism explores the effects of the “ingredients” of Mediterranean lifestyle as a whole on post-meal blood triglyceride levels (PPL). Consistently elevated PPL is a cardiovascular disease risk factor. This article is published ahead of print.

• share
• favorite_border

For the first time, researchers have employed a gene-editing technique involving low-dose irradiation to repair patient cells, according to a study published in the journal Stem Cells Translational Medicine. This method, developed by researchers in the Cedars-Sinai Board of Governors Regenerative Medicine Institute, is 10 times more effective than techniques currently in use.

• share
• favorite_border

The first test ever constructed to assess Persistent Complex Bereavement Disorder—a problematic syndrome of grief—has been jointly published by researchers from The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) and The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).