PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

New NASA Book Traces Space Nutrition From Tubes to Today

RELEASE : J12-022

2012-12-21
HOUSTON, TX, December 21, 2012 (Press-News.org) America's space program has come a long way from the early days when astronauts ate food packed in toothpaste tubes. Today, nutrition is known to be a key ingredient in astronaut health in space, just as it is for humans on Earth.

NASA scientists and educators have teamed up to publish a book, aimed at intermediate school students, that explains the role of nutrition in the space program. The free e-book describes how space nutrition research is conducted and highlights this important avenue of ongoing research at NASA. Educator Guides that suggest ways to incorporate the material into the classroom, along with mapping to National Science Education Standards, accompany the text.

"Spaceflight provides the backdrop to gain kids' interest," said Scott M. Smith, NASA nutritionist. "These books provide an opportunity to expand and educate beyond space to everything from science, math, nutrition, health, history, reading and more. The fact that this material was developed by scientists actually conducting research on Earth and with astronauts in space provides insight into what it takes to conduct research at NASA, or anywhere - from an initial concept to the final publication in a scientific journal."

"It's a new mission for education, shaping the future of our next generation of space explorers," said Lisa Neasbitt, educator and coauthor. "Educators who use Space Nutrition will be treated to an educator guide based on recent cognitive neuroscience. These strategies, such as using another's point of view, promote rigor through higher order thinking and depth of knowledge. Space Nutrition encourages project-based learning such as radio shows, scientific inquiry, plays, skits, songs and dances that incorporate student strengths and facilitate confidence and competence in students."

The book is available in two forms: a PDF document version and an interactive iBook version for use on iPads. Both can be accessed for free at:

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/slsd/about/divisions/hacd/educati ... -zone.html

The interactive iBook is also directly available for free at iTunes:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/space-nutrition/id515790608?ls=1


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

'Study partners' play critical role in clinical trials for Alzheimer's disease

2012-12-20
For Alzheimer's disease researchers who conduct clinical trials, enrolling enough patients to make a trial meaningful is always a challenge. To enroll a single patient in a study requires not one but two participants — the patient and what's known as a study partner. Study partners provide the patient with support and update researchers about the patient's progress. A new UCLA study has assessed the prevalence of the various types of study partners in Alzheimer's clinical trials — a patient's spouse or "other" partners, like a patient's adult child — and has discovered ...

Affects of climate change to birds worsened by housing development

2012-12-20
Although climate change may alter the distributions of many species, changes in land use may compound these effects. Now, a new study by PRBO Conservation Science (PRBO) researcher Dennis Jongsomjit and colleagues suggests that the effects of future housing development may be as great or greater than those of climate change for many bird species. In fact, some species projected to expand their distributions with climate change may actually lose ground when future development is brought into the picture. The study, "Between a rock and a hard place: The impacts of climate ...

What do leeches, limpets and worms have in common? Now, a sequenced genome

What do leeches, limpets and worms have in common? Now, a sequenced genome
2012-12-20
Leeches, despite the yuck factor, have captured the hearts of two University of California, Berkeley, scientists who are part of a team that this week is publishing the leech's complete genome sequence. "This genome has revolutionized our studies," said David Weisblat, a UC Berkeley professor of molecular and cell biology who lobbied for inclusion of the leech in a genome sequencing initiative that has targeted a variety of animals in order to learn what they have in common with one another and with humans. The initiative is being led by Daniel Rokhsar, UC Berkeley ...

Biologists design method to monitor global bee decline

Biologists design method to monitor global bee decline
2012-12-20
SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 19 – A global network of people monitoring bee populations may form an early warning system alerting scientists to dangers threatening the world's food system and economies. "My goal is to give agencies all around the world an effective way to monitor bees," said San Francisco State University Professor of Biology Gretchen LeBuhn, lead author of a United Nations-sponsored study. "Biologists have talked a lot about how bee populations are declining, but I don't think we actually have good data that acts as an early warning signal for possible problems ...

Mutation hotspots in autism genes

Mutation hotspots in autism genes
2012-12-20
Genes implicated in autism and other human diseases are prone to frequent mutations, according to a study published by Cell Press on December 20th in the journal Cell. The study suggests that elevated mutation rates in certain parts of the genome contribute to disease risk in humans. "Some disease-related genes are gluttons for punishment," says senior study author Jonathan Sebat of the University of California, San Diego. "Despite the fact that these genes are important for normal human development, they appear to be getting hammered with mutations." Neurodevelopmental ...

Genomic 'hotspots' offer clues to causes of autism, other disorders

Genomic hotspots offer clues to causes of autism, other disorders
2012-12-20
An international team, led by researchers from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, has discovered that "random" mutations in the genome are not quite so random after all. Their study, to be published in the journal Cell on December 21, shows that the DNA sequence in some regions of the human genome is quite volatile and can mutate ten times more frequently than the rest of the genome. Genes that are linked to autism and a variety of other disorders have a particularly strong tendency to mutate. Clusters of mutations or "hotspots" are not unique ...

Preventing prostate cancer through androgen deprivation may have harmful effects

2012-12-20
PHILADELPHIA — The use of androgen deprivation therapies to prevent precancerous prostate abnormalities developing into aggressive prostate cancer may have adverse effects in men with precancers with specific genetic alterations, according to data from a preclinical study recently published in Cancer Discovery, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. "The growth and survival of prostate cancer cells are very dependent on signals that the cancer cells receive from a group of hormones, called androgens, which includes testosterone," said Thomas R. Roberts, ...

Cellular patterns of development

2012-12-20
KANSAS CITY, MO – For a tiny embryo to grow into an entire fruit fly, mouse or human, the correct genes in each cell must turn on and off in precisely the right sequence. This intricate molecular dance produces the many parts of the whole creature, from muscles and skin to nerves and blood. So what are the underlying principles of how those genes are controlled and regulated? At the most basic level, scientists know, genes are turned on when an enzyme called RNA polymerase binds to the DNA at the beginning of a gene. The RNA polymerase copies the DNA of the gene into ...

Gladstone scientists identify powerful infection strategy of widespread and potentially lethal virus

Gladstone scientists identify powerful infection strategy of widespread and potentially lethal virus
2012-12-20
SAN FRANCISCO, CA—December 20, 2012—Scientists at the Gladstone Institutes have mapped the molecular mechanism by which a virus known as cytomegalovirus (CMV) so successfully infects its hosts. This discovery paves the way for new research avenues aimed at fighting this and other seemingly benign viruses that can turn deadly. Not all viruses are created equal. Some ravage the body quickly, while others—after an initial infection—lie dormant for decades. CMV is one of the eight types of human herpes viruses, a family of viruses that also include Epstein-Barr virus (which ...

Dragonflies have human-like 'selective attention'

Dragonflies have human-like selective attention
2012-12-20
In a discovery that may prove important for cognitive science, our understanding of nature and applications for robot vision, researchers at the University of Adelaide have found evidence that the dragonfly is capable of higher-level thought processes when hunting its prey. The discovery, to be published online today in the journal Current Biology, is the first evidence that an invertebrate animal has brain cells for selective attention, which has so far only been demonstrated in primates. Dr Steven Wiederman and Associate Professor David O'Carroll from the University ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Are lifetimes of big appliances really shrinking?

Pink skies

Monkeys are world’s best yodellers - new research

Key differences between visual- and memory-led Alzheimer’s discovered

% weight loss targets in obesity management – is this the wrong objective?

An app can change how you see yourself at work

NYC speed cameras take six months to change driver behavior, effects vary by neighborhood, new study reveals

New research shows that propaganda is on the rise in China

Even the richest Americans face shorter lifespans than their European counterparts, study finds

Novel genes linked to rare childhood diarrhea

New computer model reveals how Bronze Age Scandinavians could have crossed the sea

Novel point-of-care technology delivers accurate HIV results in minutes

Researchers reveal key brain differences to explain why Ritalin helps improve focus in some more than others

Study finds nearly five-fold increase in hospitalizations for common cause of stroke

Study reveals how alcohol abuse damages cognition

Medicinal cannabis is linked to long-term benefits in health-related quality of life

Microplastics detected in cat placentas and fetuses during early pregnancy

Ancient amphibians as big as alligators died in mass mortality event in Triassic Wyoming

Scientists uncover the first clear evidence of air sacs in the fossilized bones of alvarezsaurian dinosaurs: the "hollow bones" which help modern day birds to fly

Alcohol makes male flies sexy

TB patients globally often incur "catastrophic costs" of up to $11,329 USD, despite many countries offering free treatment, with predominant drivers of cost being hospitalization and loss of income

Study links teen girls’ screen time to sleep disruptions and depression

Scientists unveil starfish-inspired wearable tech for heart monitoring

Footprints reveal prehistoric Scottish lagoons were stomping grounds for giant Jurassic dinosaurs

AI effectively predicts dementia risk in American Indian/Alaska Native elders

First guideline on newborn screening for cystic fibrosis calls for changes in practice to improve outcomes

Existing international law can help secure peace and security in outer space, study shows

Pinning down the process of West Nile virus transmission

UTA-backed research tackles health challenges across ages

In pancreatic cancer, a race against time

[Press-News.org] New NASA Book Traces Space Nutrition From Tubes to Today
RELEASE : J12-022