Daily non-political popular news in brief.
Yes, Virginia, some snowflakes can look the same!
12-13-2006 · EurekAlert!Snowflakes, one of the most recognizable and endearing symbols of winter, reveal some fascinating lessons about chemistry and science in general, according to a scientist at Ritsumeikan University in Japan. In an interview with the American Chemical Society, the researcher discusses how snowflakes form, why scientists are interested in studying them, and explains why the adage that 'no two snowflakes are alike' may not ring true in all cases.
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- The sun may have a dimmer switch
01-24-2007 · EurekAlert!
The sun may have a dimmer switch at its core that causes its brightness to oscillate in timescales of around 100,000 years -- exactly the same period between ice ages on Earth. This is according to a physicist from Virginia, US, who has modeled the effect of temperature fluctuations at the sun's interior. In the standard view, the temperature of the sun's core is held constant.
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- UVA reports surprising findings related to myotonic muscular dystrophy
12-17-2007 · EurekAlert!
New research from the University of Virginia Health System shows that, in cases of type 1 myotonic muscular dystrophy, a well known heart protein does several surprising things. The protein, NKX2-5, is a biomarker for heart stem cells. It is also very important for the normal development of the heart. The researchers were surprised to find that mice and individuals with DM1 actually overproduce NKX2-5, yet experience the same kind of heart problems associated with too little of it.
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- Biometric sensors no dirtier than doorknobs, study finds
10-10-2007 · EurekAlert!
While biometric equipment is gaining popularity in a variety of applications, such as ensuring secure access to buildings, industries are finding that many users believe the devices are unsanitary and a potential source of germs that could cause illness. But a Purdue University study has found that while the platen glass surfaces of devices that scan fingerprints or hand geometry may look more unsanitary due to visible dirt and prints, they in fact harbor about the same amount of bacteria as a typical doorknob.
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- Genes play important role in risk for dependence on illicit and licit drugs
11-05-2007 · EurekAlert!
The genes that play a role in illegal drug abuse are not entirely the same as those involved in dependence on legal substances like alcohol and nicotine, and caffeine addiction appears to be genetically independent of all the others, according to a study led by Virginia Commonwealth University researchers.
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- Why do males and females of some species look so different?
12-04-2006 · EurekAlert!
Why and how do males and females of the same species often look so different? Armin Mocsek (Indiana University) has shown that in a certain group of insects, sex-differences in appearance are not the product of growing structures in a sex-specific manner, as previously assumed, but rather are generated by the sex-specific loss, or removal, of structures initially grown alike by both males and females.
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- Study begins to reveal clues to the cause and progression of sepsis
08-13-2007 · EurekAlert!
Not all patients with sepsis mount the same immune response, even when they look the same clinically, according to findings from the first large-scale natural history study of sepsis. The results, published by University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine researchers in the Aug. 13/27 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, indicate that past interpretations of how the immune system responds to infection -- interpretations on which many experimental treatments were based -- were incorrect.
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- Brain's fear center likely shrinks in autism's most severely socially impaired
12-04-2006 · EurekAlert!
The brain's fear hub likely becomes abnormally small in the most severely socially impaired males with autism spectrum disorders. Teens and young men who were slowest at distinguishing emotional from neutral expressions and gazed at eyes least -- indicators of social impairment -- had a smaller than normal amygdala. Siblings of people with autism share some of the same differences in amygdala volume, and in the way they look at faces and activate social/emotional brain circuitry.
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- Scientists alter sexual orientation in worms
10-25-2007 · EurekAlert!
University of Utah biologists genetically manipulated nematode worms so the animals were attracted to worms of the same sex -- part of a study that shows sexual orientation is wired in the creatures' brains. "They look like girls, but act and think like boys," says Jamie White, first author of the new study. "The [same-sex attraction] behavior is part of the nervous system."
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- Nature's process for nitrogen fixation caught in action
11-09-2006 · EurekAlert!
A research team from Utah State University, Virginia Tech, and Northwestern University asked whether the biological process for nitrogen fixation, carried out by microbes that contain the enzyme nitrogenase, follows the same pathway as recently reported chemical methods. Their research method resulted in the ability to witness steps in the biological process that enables some microorganisms to convert atmospheric nitrogen to nutrients.
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- Chemists strike gold with new gold catalysts
03-23-2007 · EurekAlert!
Few people look beyond gold's glitter and rarity, but chemists have found that its chemical properties are just as interesting, making it a unique catalyst for producing unusual organic molecules. UC Berkeley's Dean Toste, a leader in the area of gold catalysis, attributes these properties to relativistic effects in the gold atom, the same effects that give gold its yellow luster.
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