Index

Parts of the Arctic have cooled over the past century, but temperatures have been rising steeply since 1990, according to a summer temperature reconstruction for the past 400 years produced on the base of tree rings from regions beyond the Arctic Circle.

Among adolescents, visual acuity tests appear to reliably detect vision problems caused by nearsightedness but not farsightedness or astigmatism, according to a new study.

Tens of thousands of chemical and biochemical experiments may be conducted daily with the use of a microflow system of the size of a credit card, developed by scientists in Poland. The device has already been tested in research on the effectiveness of antibiotic mixtures.

With a single stimulatory molecule, human insulin-producing beta cell replication can be sustained for at least four weeks in a mouse model of diabetes, according to new research. Scientists also found several cocktails of molecules that drive human beta cells to replicate, as well as important differences between mouse and human beta cells that could influence how these approaches are best used to treat diabetes.

Researchers have developed a way to use a kite itself to measure wind speed. The instrument consists of a 2-meter-long and 1-meter-wide Rokkaku-type kite.

A new study found that people who have something to do, even something pointless, are happier than people who sit idly.

One volcano that volcanologists believe they understand fairly well is Italy's Stromboli, which has been erupting every five to 20 minutes for thousands of years, spewing fountains of ash and magma several meters into the sky. For several decades, scientists have pretty much used one theory to explain what is causing huge amounts of gas to erupt so frequently: swimming-pool-sized bubbles that travel through a few hundred meters of molten magma before popping at the surface. But they may be wrong, according to new research.

Scientists have identified a molecular pathway responsible for the death of key nerve cells whose loss causes Parkinson's disease. This discovery not only may explain how a genetic mutation linked to Parkinson's causes the cells' death, but could also open the door to new therapeutic approaches for the malady.

Politicians' gestures can reveal their thoughts, according to a new study. In laboratory tests, right- and left-handers associate positive ideas like honesty and intelligence with their dominant side of space and negative ideas with their non-dominant side. To find out whether people link 'good' with 'dominant' beyond the laboratory, researchers examined spontaneous gestures during positive and negative speech in the final debates of the most recent US presidential elections.

The prognosis for nearly three-quarters of elderly patients on intensive chemotherapy for acute myeloid leukemia is poor, with a median survival of less than six months, according to a new study.

An Australian scientist has discovered what could be the world's rarest coral in the remote North Pacific Ocean. The unique Pacific elkhorn coral was found while conducting underwater surveys of Arno atoll in the Marshall Islands.

Researchers in the UK have demonstrated a link between teenage binge drinking and damage to prospective memory.

The protein SIRT1 in the brain is tied into a mechanism that allows animals to survive when food is scarce, according to a new study. The research suggests that SIRT1 may be involved with the life span-increasing effect of low-calorie diets, they report.

A chemical compound that boosts the action of a molecule normally produced in the brain may provide the starting point for a new line of therapies for the treatment of epileptic seizures, according to a new study.

Heat waves like those that baked the Northeast in July are likely to be more frequent and more intense in the future, with their effects amplified in densely built urban environments like Manhattan, according to climate scientists.

Vitamin D deficiency is associated with arterial stiffness, a risk factor for heart disease and stroke, in black teens, according to a new study. Black teens taking vitamin D supplementation of 2,000 international units per day had a decrease in central arterial stiffness.

For the first time, researchers have shown that they can deliver those same reprogramming genes using RNA, the genetic material that normally ferries instructions from DNA to the cell's protein-making machinery. This method could prove much safer than DNA-based reprogramming, say the researchers. The new technique could revert cells to an immature state that can develop into any cell type.

A new study from Australia shows an association between ADHD and a "Western-style" diet in adolescents. The study examined the dietary patterns of 1800 adolescents from the long-term Raine Study and classified diets into 'Healthy' or 'Western' patterns.

Swimmers at sub-tropical beaches face an increased risk of illness, according to new research. Scientists examined the risk of illness that beachgoers face when exposed to recreational marine water at sub-tropical beaches with no known source of pollution or contamination.

It is common to find obese people – even morbidly obese people – who are healthier than their condition would normally allow. Working with subjects with a body mass index of about 56, a team of researchers investigated the inflammatory and insulin signaling pathways in the patients’ visceral adipose tissue.

A spectacular new image shows the brilliant and unusual star WR 22 and its colorful surroundings. WR 22 is a very hot and bright star that is shedding its atmosphere into space at a rate many millions of times faster than the Sun. It lies in the outer part of the dramatic Carina Nebula from which it formed.

Even though it is widely used as a therapy for low back pain, a randomized controlled trial finds that patients with chronic low-back pain and degenerative lumbar osteoarthritis who took glucosamine for six months showed little difference on measures of pain-related disability, low back and leg pain and health-related quality of life, compared to patients who received placebo, according to a new study.

Physicists are reporting new results from experiments on the perplexing class of materials that includes high-temperature superconductors. The team reports the unexpected discovery of a simple fractal form of electronic excitations in ultra-low-temperature quantum magnets at the border of magnetism.

Public immunization efforts may be much more sensitive than previously realized to small changes in the perceived costs or risks of vaccination, scientists report. In some cases, the spread of vaccine avoidance via social networks can make the difference between a minor, localized outbreak and an epidemic four times as large.

Michelangelo, the 16th century master painter and accomplished anatomist, appears to have hidden an image of the brainstem and spinal cord in a depiction of God in the Sistine Chapel's ceiling, a new study reports. These findings by a neurosurgeon and a medical illustrator may explain long controversial and unusual features of one of the frescoes' figures.

A new study shows that a sleep disorder may be a sign of dementia or Parkinson's disease up to 50 years before the disorders are diagnosed.

Astronomers have found two extrasolar planetary systems with gas giant planets locked in an orbital embrace. In one system -- a planetary pair orbiting the massive, dying star HD 200964, located roughly 223 light-years from Earth -- the intimate dance is closer and tighter than any previously seen.

Vaccine manufacturers in India and other developing countries may be able to produce a lower-cost HPV vaccine in spite of the complicated array of patent protections on the technology, say researchers.

NASA personnel are among a group of international researchers who are in the Canadian Arctic assessing concepts for future planetary exploration as part of the Haughton-Mars Project, or HMP-2010. Scientists are using the arid, rocky environment of the Haughton Crater on Devon Island, Canada to simulate conditions that might be encountered by explorers on other planetary bodies. The latest edition of the HMP-2010 began July 19 and includes three weeks of crew and mission control activities and robotic testing.

Researchers are trying to understand the mechanisms at work in the face area of the brain called the "fusiform gyrus" by combining cognitive psychology with techniques like brain imaging and electrophysiology. This research may help business executives better match names with faces, and can lead to better facial recognition software to identify terrorists or criminals.

Physicists have experimentally observed a quantum phenomenon, where an arbitrarily weak perturbation causes atoms to build an organized structure from an initially unorganized one.

Men who develop prostate cancer, especially the more aggressive and dangerous forms that spread throughout the body, tend to retain denser bones as they age than men who stay free of the disease, suggests new research.

Summer storms are a regular feature in the North Atlantic, and while most pose little threat to our shores, a choice few become devastating hurricanes. To decipher which storms could bring danger, and which will not, atmospheric scientists are heading to the tropics to observe these systems as they form and dissipate--or develop into hurricanes.

There is an increased risk of recurring gestational diabetes in pregnant women who developed gestational diabetes during their first and second pregnancies, according to new study.

Scientists have developed a new tool for deciphering the genetics of a native prairie grass being widely studied for its potential as a biofuel. The genetic map of switchgrass is expected to speed up the search for genes that will make the perennial plant a more viable source of bioenergy.

A new study shows that female medical students volunteer for leadership roles in the classroom significantly less than their male peers. Subtle pep talks from teachers can even out the playing field.

Scientists have mapped and analyzed global biodiversity patterns for over 11,000 marine species ranging from tiny zooplankton to sharks and whales.

Bioengineers have developed an implantable glucose sensor and wireless telemetry system that continuously monitors tissue glucose and transmits the information to an external receiver. A new article describes the use of this glucose-sensing device as an implant in animals for over one year. After human clinical trials and FDA approval, the device may be useful to people with diabetes as an alternative to finger sticking and short-term, needle-like glucose sensors that have to be replaced every three to seven days.

Researchers have estimated future emissions of carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane in the Brazilian Amazon state of Mato Grosso. The estimates were made by combining 105 years of historical data on land-use changes with possible scenarios for future deforestation and land use in the region.

Obese older adults are more likely to use walkers, canes and other mobility devices at a younger age, and may run the risk of using them incorrectly, according to new research.

Multimedia talking touchscreens, housed in computer kiosks at clinics and hospitals, are helping researchers and clinicians at local health care centers enhance patient-centered care for patients with diverse language, literacy and computer skills.

Researchers have determined that after the implementation in 2006 of the penalty points system driver's license in Spain, there has been a reduction of 12.6 percent in the number of deaths in highway accidents. However, the effect on fatal accidents lasted only two years.

Hormonal contraceptives change the ways captive ring-tailed lemurs relate to one another both socially and sexually, according to a study that combined analyses of hormones, genes, scent chemicals and behavior.

The same molecular mechanism that increases life span through calorie restriction may help boost memory and brainpower, researchers report.

Researchers in Portugal and the U.S. studied the introgression -- the movement of a gene from one species into the gene pool of another -- of rye alien chromatin in the wheat genome, and showed that genomes behave like social entities.

Millions of Americans in the early stages of chronic kidney disease are at an increased risk of having atrial fibrillation -- a major risk factor for stroke -- according to new research.

The University of Hawaii at Manoa's School of Ocean Earth Science and Technology completed a three-year long investigation of Sea Disposal Site Hawaii Number 5, a deep-water military munitions disposal site in US coastal waters approximately 5 miles south of Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaii. This complex investigation required the use of high-resolution sidescan sonar and remotely operated underwater vehicles to locate sea disposed munitions in water as deep as 1,500 feet.

Heterosexual women bear the brunt of narcissistic heterosexual men's hostility, while heterosexual men, gay men and lesbian women provoke a softer reaction, according to a new study.