Novel fungus helps beetles to digest hard wood Aug 19, 2008
18) in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "We have been able to detect messages from the [fungal] DNA, which get translated into enzymes.". (EurekAlert!)
Fish cancer gene linked to pigment pattern that attracts mates Aug 19, 2008
A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences this week shows that the melanoma gene can be conserved in swordtail fish because of its beneficial role in sexual selection. Ohio University scientists Andr Fernandez and Molly Morris studied three populations of female swordtails, tiny freshwater fish native to North and Central America, and found that two of them preferred males whose tails were painted to resemble the skin cancer spots. (EurekAlert!)
Old Growth Giants Limited By Water-pulling Ability Aug 18, 2008
The findings are being published this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, by a team of scientists from Oregon State University and the U.S.D.A. Forest Service. The research was funded by grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Forest Service. (Science Daily)
Eye's Light Receptors Help Set Body's Clock Aug 18, 2008
The finding appears in the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The U.Va. (Science Daily)
Biosolids help crops resist drought, researchers say Aug 18, 2008
D. wrote on Aug 16, 2008 1:53 PM:" Virginia Tech's research showing that controlled greenhouse studies indicate that sludged land mayyield drought-resistant crops is contradicted by a number of other studies, as well as by what is going on once soil and crops are exposed to the real unpredictable environment outside of the laboratory. Often the immediate yield increases of sludged crops are attributable to the water in sludge. We have data comparing sludge used to grow conventional conservation... (Chatham Star Tribune, VA)
As Arctic melts, patrolling waters at issue Aug 18, 2008
The National Academy of Sciences, the Coast Guard and others have warned over the last several years that the United States' two 30-year-old heavy icebreakers, the Polar Sea and Polar Star, and one smaller ice-breaking ship devoted mainly to science, the Healy, are grossly inadequate. Also, the Polar Star is out of service. (San Francisco Chronicle)
Drive 55 campaign gaining speed Aug 18, 2008
He points to a National Academy of Sciences finding that the law "saved up to 4,000 lives per year from highway accidents." Disputing that, opponents point to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's figures that show the rates of traffic fatalities and injuries have been declining for more than a decade. The fatality rate in 2007 was 1. (USA Today)
The winners' body language - it's biological Aug 18, 2008
Researchers reported in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences last week that the blind and sighted athletes' body language showed the same patterns, not only when they expressed pride, but when they felt shame. The idea that the exultant fist pump or dejected shoulder slump is based in biology may seem like a no-brainer to anyone watching the Olympics, who can instantly distinguish the gold medal swimmer from those who didn't place well. (Boston Globe -- Sports)
Improved technique determines structure in membrane proteins Aug 18, 2008
Rienstra and his collaborators described their work creating the highest resolution protein structure solved by solid-state NMR in the March 25 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The work was funded by the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. (EurekAlert!)
Former DirecTV head named LA Times publisher Aug 17, 2008
He was inducted into the Broadcasting and Cable Hall of Fame in 2002 and received an Emmy Award for lifetime achievement from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in 2007. ADVERTISEMENT. (Anchorage Daily News)
Happy hours all night long for the tupai Aug 17, 2008
Dr Wiens and Annette Zitzmann, his co-researcher, work at the Animal Physiology Department at the Bayreuth University in the United States and their findings were published in the latest issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the official journal of the United States National Academy of Sciences. The research was carried out at the Segari Melintang Forest Reserve in Perak and some other areas. (The Star Online, Malaysia)
Dying Frogs Sign Of A Biodiversity Crisis Aug 16, 2008
In a new article published online in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers argue that substantial die-offs of amphibians and other plant and animal species add up to a new mass extinction facing the planet ... The study, co-authored by Wake and Vance Vredenburg, research associate at the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at UC Berkeley and assistant professor of biology at San Francisco State University, will appear in a special supplement to the journal... (Yahoo News -- Environment & Nature)
How to Be Popular during the Olympics: Be H. Lee Sweeney, Gene Doping Expert Aug 16, 2008
In 1998 he and his colleagues published a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA in which they used a common virus to insert the gene for , or IGF1, into the DNA of muscle cells of young and old mice. Doing so increased muscle mass and strength by approximately 15 percent in young mice and reversed age-related muscle changes in old mice, making them 27 percent stronger than they were before. (Scientific American)
Riding the School Bus is as Safe as Ever Aug 16, 2008
By contrast, every year about 800 school aged children lose their lives on their way to school while either riding in private passenger vehicles, walking or biking, according to the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Long gone are the dubiously maintained and equipped school buses you might remember from your own childhood. (Pekin Times, IL)
Hybrid 'Muttsucker' Has Genes Of Three Species Aug 16, 2008
In a paper that will publish this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, McDonald and four co-authors detail the potential impact that the introduced fish, the white sucker, could have on "the evolutionary biology of fishes in general, and the genetic integrity of the two native fishes in particular." ... Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, (in press). (Science Daily)
Antarctic Climate: Short-term Spikes, Long-term Warming Linked To Tropical Pacific Aug 16, 2008
The research appeared recently in the online Early Edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The work was supported by the National Science Foundation, NCAR's sponsor. (Science Daily)
Climate Change Caused Widespread Tree Death In California Mountain Range, Study Confirms Aug 16, 2008
The study appears online the week of Aug. 11 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Kelly and Michael Goulden, Earth system science professor, studied the north face of the Santa Rosa Mountains, just south of Palm Desert near Idyllwild, Calif. (Science Daily)
Slipping Through Cell Walls, Nanotubes Deliver High-potency Punch To Cancer Tumors In Mice Aug 16, 2008
Dai's team has found in earlier work (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 105, No. 5, 1410-1415, Feb. 5, 2008) that coating nanotubes with PEG was an effective way to keep the nanotubes circulating in the bloodstream for up to 10 hours, long enough to find their way to the target location and much longer than free medication would circulate. Although attaching the paclitaxel to the PEG turned out to reduce the circulation time, it proved to still be long enough to deliver a... (Science Daily)
Good night's sleep boosts long-term memory Aug 16, 2008
During a good night's rest, memories of recent events are shifted from one part of the brain to another, a process that is crucial for developing long-term memories, according to a report published today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The researchers, lead by Dr Philippe Peigneux at the University of Liege in Belgium, gave two teams the task of learning their way around a virtual 3D town by training them on a computer. (Yahoo News -- Sleep and Sleep Disorders)
Most girls just want to have fun Aug 16, 2008
They are more prone to cot death, four times more likely to suffer from autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and, according to analysis published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, are 24 per cent more likely than girls to die in their first year. Still, their anxious mothers can console themselves that boys who avoid or overcome early hurdles, will generally go on to earn more, climb higher in their chosen profession and generally outstrip their sisters by the... (Sydney Morning Herald -- Australia)
Experiments could lead to new treatments for neuroblastoma Aug 16, 2008
In a paper published this week in the "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences," a team led by associate professor of surgery Dr. Dai H. Chung describes cell-culture and animal experiments that demonstrate how shutting down a single biochemical signaling connection dramatically suppresses neuroblastoma tumor formation and slows the cancer's spread. Their investigation centered on an intercellular signaling molecule known as gastrin-releasing peptide, or GRP, and the receptor molecule... (EurekAlert!)
News Scan Briefs: Iron-Tough Paper; DEET-free Repellent; Artificial Corneas Aug 15, 2008
Buzz about the findings in the May 27 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA.. Iron-Tough Paper Paper may not become obsolete after all a new type can resist tearing better than cast iron. (Scientific American)
Alzheimer's drugs 'help glaucoma' Aug 15, 2008
The research, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is welcomed by a leading eye charity. This doesn't mean that everyone with Alzheimer's will develop glaucoma or vice versa. (Yahoo News -- Alzheimer's Disease)
Researchers Solve Structure Of An Enzyme Vital For DNA Repair Aug 15, 2008
The results, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, include a description of Rtt109 s structure and a theory of how it works. During the first phase of cell division, tightly wrapped DNA unwinds itself from around the spool-like histones that help control its gene activity and provide structural support. (Science Daily)
Microbes, By Latitudes And Altitudes, Shed New Light On Life's Diversity Aug 15, 2008
In two recent National Science Foundation-funded papers in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Green and colleagues show that temperature, not productivity, primarily drives the richness of bacterial diversity in the oceans, and that life, both plant and microbial, by altitude in the Rocky Mountains may be close, but not exactly, to what biologists have theorized for years. Swedish naturalist and botanist Carl Linnaeus, the father of taxonomy who died in 1778, proposed that the... (Science Daily)
Sheriff's officer wins FBI-affiliated award Aug 15, 2008
For that act of bravery, this past July 29 the FBI National Academy Associates presented Thomas the Livio A. Beccaccio Award at their annual conference, held this year in Milwaukee ... With 16,000 members across the globe, the FBINAA consists of alumni of the FBI National Academy ... The FBINAA works in connection with the FBI National Academy and the FBI. At the conference last month, Thomas was also elected to the FBINAA's nine-member board of directors. (Mid Iowa Enterprise, IA)
Model for Angelman syndrome developed by University of Texas at Austin biologists Aug 15, 2008
11-15), and will appear in the print version of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences later this month. "People inherit Angelman syndrome as a mutant UBE3A gene that does not make UBE3A protein," says Fischer, a professor in the Institute for Cellular and Molecular Biology. (EurekAlert!)
Nagging Questions in Anthrax Case Aug 15, 2008
"You have less confidence in how much the FBI is really sharing and how accurate this might be," says Henderson, who would like to see the FBI release its data to a neutral body, such as the National Academy of Sciences or the National Institute of Medicine, for review. While even the staunchest critics of the FBI acknowledge that publicizing details about new technology may pose a national security risk, others insist that doing so and hastening a firm conclusion to the "Amerithrax" case would... (Time.com)
Humans wiped out prehistoric giants Aug 14, 2008
The research, published this week in the US-based journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, argues that man likely hunted to death the giant kangaroo and other very large animals on the southern island of Tasmania. The debate centres on the skull of a giant kangaroo found in a cave in the thick rainforest of the rugged northwest of Tasmania in 2000. (India Times, India)
Panel urges more funds to keep tunnels safe Aug 14, 2008
"Continued and safe operation of the [Big Dig and turnpike] can only be achieved with vigilant operational monitoring, thorough inspections on regular schedules, and timely maintenance and rehabilitation of any degraded components of the system," wrote the panel, led by Robert E. Skinner Jr. of the Transportation Research Board, which is affiliated with the National Academy of Sciences. Skinner declined an interview request because Patrick's office has yet to release the letter publicly. (Boston Globe)
Athletes may be hard-wired to show pride, study says Aug 14, 2008
Tracy's study, co-authored by David Matsumoto at San Francisco State University, was published in the most recent edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. cskelton@vancouversun. (Vancouver Sun)
Nancy Pelosi and the big wind Boone-doggle Aug 14, 2008
Depending on wind requires supplemental fossil fuel plants as backup to be turned on and off to compensate for wind power supply shortfalls nullifying any reductions in carbon dioxide emissions, which are miniscule, according to the National Academy of Sciences. Fittingly, the environmental mascot of the Democratic National Convention the showcase of their alternative energy approach is an eastern Colorado wind turbine propped up with Democratic carbon-credit funds that has never produced any... (DeKalb Daily Chronicle, IL)
El Nino warming Antarctic Aug 14, 2008
The study appeared on Tuesday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Previous studies had showed the West Antarctic had cooled partly due to winds caused by depletion of the ozone layer. (India Times)
Pilot project aims to avoid mix-ups of medicines with similar names Aug 14, 2008
A 2006 study by the Institute of Medicine, a branch of the National Academy of Sciences, found medication errors injure 1. 5 million people annually, and it attributed 25 percent of all errors to confusion caused by similar drug names. (Kalamazoo Gazette, MI)
Population Bomb Author's Fix For Next Extinction: Educate Women Aug 14, 2008
Right now, at least 2,000 frogs, salamanders and other are in danger of going extinct, according to a survey by biologists David Wake and Vance Vredenburg, writing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA. Coastal seas and estuaries have lost as much as 91 percent of certain species, such as oysters, according to another survey. And nearly 50 percent of all temperate grasslands and forests have disappeared. (Scientific American)
Water's the limit for tall trees Aug 14, 2008
The findings appear in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "The trees are moving water purely as a result of physics, " explained co-author Barb Lachenbruch, a professor of wood science at Oregon State University. (BBC News -- Science)
Southern Ocean Seals Dive Deep For Climate Data Aug 14, 2008
14, 2008) According to a paper published today by a team of French, Australian, US and British scientists in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, elephant seals fitted with special oceanographic sensors are providing a 30-fold increase in data recorded in parts of the Southern Ocean rarely observed using traditional ocean monitoring techniques. See also. (Science Daily)
Mass Extinctions And 'Rise Of Slime' Predicted For Oceans Aug 14, 2008
Jackson, director of the Scripps Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation, has tagged the ongoing transformation as "the rise of slime." The new paper, "Ecological extinction and evolution in the brave new ocean," is a result of Jackson's presentation last December at a biodiversity and extinction colloquium convened by the National Academy of Sciences ... Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2008; DOI. (Science Daily)
U.S. Approves Visa for Indian Scientist Aug 14, 2008
Wendy White, an official with the National Academy of Sciences, said targeting scientists based merely on their areas of expertise could make it harder to spot real threats. "If you are looking for the needle in the haystack, you have made the haystack bigger," she said. (Yahoo News -- Biological and Chemical Weapons)
7 comments Aug 14, 2008
Depending on wind requires supplemental fossil fuel plants as backup to be turned on and off to compensate for wind power supply shortfalls -- nullifying any reductions in carbon dioxide emissions, which are miniscule, according to the National Academy of Sciences. Not to mention the thousands of sliced-up birds and other wildlife that have become wind power casualties -- a problem scientists say would be solved by "repowering" old turbines at a cost of untold billions. (Human Events Online)
Extinction most likely for rare trees in the Amazon rainforest Aug 14, 2008
Common tree species in the Amazon will survive even grim scenarios of deforestation and road-building, but rare trees could suffer extinction rates of up to 50 percent, predict Smithsonian scientists and colleagues in the Aug. 12 issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science ... Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, August 12 early online edition. (EurekAlert!)
A recipe for saving the world's oceans from an extinction crisis Aug 14, 2008
Jeremy Jackson, senior scientist emeritus of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, asserts in the Aug. 12 issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, that the following steps, if taken immediately, could reverse the demise of the oceans: Establish marine reserves, enforce fishing regulations, implement aquaculture, remove subsidies on fertilizer use, muster human ingenuity to limit fossil fuel consumption, buy time by... (EurekAlert!)
Elephant Seals Help Collect Data From Antarctic Waters Aug 13, 2008
The result: Nine times more data than had been previously available from buoys and ships and 30 times more information than had been known from beneath the winter sea ice, the researchers report in Tuesday's edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Related. (Fox News)
Victory Gesture May Be Genetically Programmed Aug 13, 2008
The scientists detail their results in the Aug. 11 issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. In general, when blind and sighted competitors won, they would expand their bodies, and when they lost, they would pull themselves inward. (Fox News)
* Tiny beer-swilling creature may cure hangovers: experts Aug 13, 2008
This suggests a beneficial effect and sheds a whole new light on the evolution of human alcoholism, the scientists write in a paper published in the current issue of the scientific journal the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Citing what they call the first recorded chronic alcohol intake in the wild, the scientists speculated that the tree shrews body chemistry could hold beneficial clues for medicinal treatment in humans X such as a cure to the hangover. (Taipei Times, Taiwan -- World)
* Academia Sinica team may be close to cancer vaccine Aug 13, 2008
The results of the study were published in the online Early Edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. This story has been viewed 443 times. (Taipei Times, Taiwan -- World)
Southern seals sample salty seas Aug 13, 2008
The findings appear in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The tags measure position, salinity, and temperature, among other things, to form a "hydrographic profile" for each of the 58 seals fitted with a device. (BBC News -- Science)
Red Flour Beetle's 'Selfish' Gene Sequenced Aug 13, 2008
The research was reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The selfish gene is important because red flour beetles that don't inherit it from their mother don't survive. (Science Daily)
Olympic Athlete Study Shows That Pride And Shame Are Universal And Innate Expressions Aug 13, 2008
Tracy's findings published in this week's online Early Edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences show that the individuals displayed pride and shame behaviours in response to the same success and failure situations. Pride, unlike fear, anger or joy which are categorized as primary emotions has received little research attention in the past, explains Tracy. (Science Daily)
Strange Molecule In Sky Cleans Acid Rain Aug 13, 2008
A technical paper describing the molecule is published this week in a special edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science ... Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2008; DOI. (Science Daily)
Haggard 'Not Gonna Do Anything' About Lung Spot Aug 13, 2008
Haggard, who hails from Bakersfield, has penned 38 No. 1 hits, including "Oakie from Muskogee" and received a Lifetime Achievement Grammy in 2006 from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Copyright 2008 by. (KERO 23, CA)
Careful with that globe Aug 13, 2008
"The complexity of newly engineered systems coupled with their potential impact on lives, the environment, etc., raise a set of ethical issues that engineers had not been thinking about," said William Wulf, a computer scientist who until last year headed the National Academy of Engineering. As one of his official last acts, he established the Center for Engineering, Ethics and Society there. (International Herald Tribune)
Seattle researchers find genetic scrap in prostate cancer that could yield a test Aug 13, 2008
In the study, reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Tewari's lab isolated dozens of microRNAs from human blood plasma, the liquid left after cells are removed. Using mice implanted with human prostate cancer cells, they identified microRNA sequences specific to the cancer. (OregonLive, OR -- News)
Humans played role in mega fauna extinction: research Aug 13, 2008
The report, published in a US National Academy of Sciences journal, is co-authored by Professor Tim Flannery, using research by Professor Bert Williams at the University of Wollongong. Professor Williams says people arrived in Tasmania about 43,000 years ago when it was connected to the mainland, and proceeded to eat the large animals. (ABC Science Online)
Letters to the Editor (Aug. 13) Aug 13, 2008
In a report requested by President Bush, the National Research Council of the National Academies of Science endorsed the IPCC report. The American Physical Society, the American Geophysical Union, the American Meteorological Society and many other prestigious scientific organizations have issued policy statements endorsing the IPCC report. (Corvallis Gazette Times, OR)
Tagged Elephant Seals Survey Antarctic Waters Aug 13, 2008
The research appears this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Living Submarines. (National Geographic)
Neal retires from force Aug 13, 2008
Over the years, Neal earned his associate degree in criminal justice from Central Virginia Community College in Lynchburg, graduated from the FBI National Academy and was the first Breathalyzer operator in the county, other than the Virginia State Police. He implemented the department's emergency response team and had cameras installed in the patrol vehicles. (Altivista Journal, VA)
Are we science-savvy enough to make informed decisions? Aug 13, 2008
org) and the National Academy of Sciences (nasonline. org), Kennedy says. (USA Today -- Tech)
Scientists use old enemy to K.O. cancer Aug 13, 2008
" Scientists working on the project now hope to move the research out of the laboratory the next stage for this work would be medical trials. ### The research was funded the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), and the findings are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - August 2008.. (EurekAlert!)
'Prehistoric Kangaroos killed by man' Aug 13, 2008
The research, published this week in the US-based journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , argues that man likely hunted to death the giant kangaroo and other very large animals on the southern island of Tasmania. The debate centres on the skull of a giant kangaroo found in a cave in the thick rain forest of the rugged northwest of Tasmania in 2000. (India Times, India -- Health/Science)
Chemical Warfare: Peppers Fight Fungus Aug 12, 2008
In this case, it's a battle between the peppers and a type of microbial fungus that destroys their seeds, researchers report in Tuesday's edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. They studied wild peppers growing in Bolivia. (CBS News)
Study says warming behind plants' move Aug 12, 2008
The results appear in yesterday's issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright 2008 Globe Newspaper Company. (Boston Globe)
'Man, not climate' behind extinctions Aug 12, 2008
The findings were published in the American scientific journal - Proceedings of the National Academy. Giant kangaroos. (BBC News)
The pose of a champion is innate, study finds Aug 12, 2008
The scientists detail their results in the Aug. 11 issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Victory vs. shameIn general, when blind and sighted competitors won, they would expand their bodies, and when they lost, they would pull themselves inward. (MSNBC -- Health)
Elephant seals join fight against climate change Aug 12, 2008
REUTERS/Courtesy Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences/Handout ... The elephant seals have provided scientists with a 30-fold increase in data recorded in parts of the Southern Ocean, said the study by a team of French, Australian, U.S. and British scientists and published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (Scientific American)
