Birds 'shout' to be heard over the noise produced by man-made activity, new research has shown. The innovative study, led by an expert from the University of Exeter, looked at how bluebirds altered their songs in response to increases in nearby background noise caused, in many cases, by human activities such as traffic. It found that the birds altered their songs immediately after noise levels intensified, making 'real-time' adjustments in order to produce songs that are both louder and lower-pitched. The results suggest that birds are able to perceive increases in ...

Chestnut Hill, MA (Aug. 21, 2015) - A fresh look at some old rocks has solved a crucial mystery of the last Ice Age, yielding an important new finding that connects to the global retreat of glaciers caused by climate change today, according to a new study by a team of climate scientists. For decades, researchers examining the glacial meltdown that ended 11,000 years ago took into account a number of contributing factors, particularly regional influences such as solar radiation, ice sheets and ocean currents. But a reexamination of more than 1,000 previously studied ...

CHICAGO -- Each year, 311 -- New York City's main hub for government information and non-emergency services -- receives millions of requests and complaints, including New Yorkers' gripes about their neighbors. In a new study from New York University (NYU) using 311 complaint data, researchers tracked when and where New Yorkers complain about their neighbors making noise, blocking driveways, or drinking in public. They found that these complaints -- a defining aspect of urban life -- are more likely to occur in areas sandwiched between two homogenous communities, where ...

A former adviser to the US Secretary of State says that genetic modification (GM) is the most critical technology in agriculture for meeting the challenges of feeding a growing global population, writing in the open access journal Agriculture & Food Security. Nina Fedoroff, molecular biologist and former Science and Technology Adviser to Hillary Clinton and Condoleezza Rice, warns of the detrimental influence of politics and misinformation on the safety of GM crops. Instead, Fedoroff says that: "GM crops are arguably the safest new crops ever introduced into the human ...

The fact that the greatest diversity of large mammals is found in Africa reflects past human activities - and not climatic or other environmental constraints. This is determined in a new study, which presents what the world map of mammals would look like if modern man (Homo sapiens) had never existed. In a world without humans, most of northern Europe would probably now be home to not only wolves, Eurasian elk (moose) and bears, but also animals such as elephants and rhinoceroses. This is demonstrated in a new study conducted by researchers from Aarhus University, Denmark. ...

In a new study published today in the Journal of Health Psychology, researchers from the University of Surrey have found dieters who eat 'on the go' may increase their food intake later in the day which could lead to weight gain and obesity. The findings from the study also showed that eating while walking around triggered more overeating compared to eating during other forms of distraction such as watching TV or having a conversation with a friend. The team examined 60 females who were either dieters or non-dieters and gave them all a cereal bar to eat under three different ...

A "substantial" proportion of NHS hospital staff--around one in eight, in some places--treat the victims of people trafficking, with maternity services most likely to do so, finds research published in the online journal BMJ Open. Although understanding of the sorts of health problems trafficked patients are likely to have, is generally high, few NHS staff feel adequately prepared to respond appropriately, the findings suggest. International law requires that the UK provides victims of human trafficking with whatever medical treatment they require, which includes psychological ...

Nine potentially modifiable risk factors may contribute to up to two thirds of Alzheimer's disease cases worldwide, suggests an analysis of the available evidence, published online in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry. The analysis indicates the complexity of Alzheimer's disease development and just how varied the risk factors for it are. But the researchers suggest that preventive strategies, targeting diet, drugs, body chemistry, mental health, pre-existing disease, and lifestyle may help to stave off dementia. This could be particularly important, ...

In a Policy View published in The Lancet Neurology journal, a group of leading experts on the epidemiology of dementia state that the number of people with dementia - both new cases and total numbers with the disease - in some Western European countries is stabilising despite population ageing, in direct contrast to the "dementia epidemic" reported in some recent studies. The Policy View discusses data from five large epidemiological studies done in Sweden, the Netherlands, the UK, and Spain that compare dementia occurrence in old people across two periods of time using ...

Highlights Among kidney transplant recipients, patients with mostly IgG3 donor-specific HLA antibodies had a higher likelihood of organ rejection soon after transplantation. If rejection occurred in those with mostly IgG4 antibodies, it was usually much later after transplantation. Washington, DC (August 20, 2015) -- The dominant antibody type present in the blood of transplant recipients may indicate their likelihood of experiencing organ rejection, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN). ...

DALLAS, Aug. 20, 2015 -- Caregiver spouses of stroke survivors are at an increased risk of mental and physical health issues that may continue for years, according to research in the American Heart Association journal Stroke. Swedish researchers evaluated 248 stroke survivors, below age 70 (average mid-sixties), and their spouses at stroke onset and compared the results with 245 non-stroke controls for seven years after the stroke event. At the seven-year follow-up, 16.5 percent of survivors had suffered a recurrent stroke. Spouses of survivors reported lower scores ...

Boston, MA -- A widely used class of industrial chemicals linked with cancer and interference with immune function--perfluorinated alkylate substances, or PFASs--appears to build up in infants by 20%-30% for each month they're breastfed, according to a new study co-authored by experts from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. It is the first study to show the extent to which PFASs are transferred to babies through breast milk, and to quantify their levels over time. "We knew that small amounts of PFAS can occur in breast milk, but our serial blood analyses now show ...

In-depth interviews conducted by researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine of 20 young women attending an urban sexually transmitted disease clinic have documented a variety of unexpected, unintended sexual encounters linked to their alcohol use before sex occurs. Links between alcohol use and risky or deleterious sexual encounters are not necessarily new, say investigators, but this small study identifies very specifically the disconnect between what young women have in mind when they drink and have sex and what really happens. "The idea behind ...

According to a survey conducted by Rhode Island Hospital researchers, there is significant variability regarding how clinicians manage catheters placed in the arteries of patients in intensive care units. Some practices may increase risk of infection associated with these catheters. Fewer than half of those surveyed complied with current Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) infection prevention guidelines for arterial catheter insertions. The study was published today in Critical Care Medicine. "Barrier precautions are employed inconsistently by critical care ...

Washington, DC - August 20, 2015 - Swedish exchange students who studied in India and in central Africa returned from their sojourns with an increased diversity of antibiotic resistance genes in their gut microbiomes. The research is published 10 August in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, a journal of the American Society for Microbiology. In the study, the investigators found a 2.6-fold increase in genes encoding resistance to sulfonamide, a 7.7-fold increase in trimethoprim resistance genes, and a 2.6-fold increase in resistance to beta-lactams, all of this without ...

PHOENIX, Ariz. -- Aug. 20, 2015 -- A study by the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) and other major research institutes, found a new set of genes that can indicate improved survival after surgery for patients with pancreatic cancer. The study also showed that detection of circulating tumor DNA in the blood could provide an early indication of tumor recurrence. In conjunction with the Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) Pancreatic Cancer Dream Team, the study was published in the prestigious scientific journal Nature Communications. Using whole-exome sequencing ...

If dark energy is hiding in our midst in the form of hypothetical particles called "chameleons," Holger Müller and his team at the University of California, Berkeley, plan to flush them out. The results of an experiment reported in this week's issue of Science narrows the search for chameleons a thousand times compared to previous tests, and Müller, an assistant professor of physics, hopes that his next experiment will either expose chameleons or similar ultralight particles as the real dark energy, or prove they were a will-o'-the-wisp after all. Dark energy ...

Management of boreal forests needs greater attention from international policy, argued forestry experts from the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Natural Resources Canada, and the University of Helsinki in Finland in a new article published this week in the journal Science. The article, which reviews recent research in the field, is part of a special issue on forests released in advance of the World Forestry Congress in September. "Boreal forests have the potential to hit a tipping point this century," says IIASA Ecosystems Services and Management ...

This news release is available in Japanese. Humans are just one of many predators in this world, but a new study highlights how their intense tendency to target and kill adult prey, as well as other carnivores, sets them distinctly apart from other predators. As humans kill other species in their reproductive prime, there can be profound implications -- including widespread extinction and restructuring of food webs and ecosystems--in both terrestrial and marine systems. To evaluate the nature of human predation compared to nonhuman predation, Chris Darimont et al. conducted ...

This news release is available in Japanese. In this special issue, the editors of Science invite experts to provide closer looks at how natural and human-induced environmental changes are affecting forests around the world, from the luscious, diverse forests of the tropics, to the pristine, resilient boreal forests of the north. The special issue is complemented by a package from Science's news department. Amid extreme environmental and climate changes, Susan Trumbore and colleagues highlight the urgency of monitoring forest health, especially ...

This news release is available in Japanese. Amid continued difficulties around assessing bioweapons threats, especially given limited empirical data, Crystal Boddie and colleagues took another route to gauge their danger: the collective judgment of multiple experts. The experts' opinions on bioweapons-related risks were quite diverse, the Policy Forum authors say, adding to the challenge around developing a regulatory system for legitimate dual use research. Boddie et al. explain how they employed a Delphi Method study to query the beliefs and opinions of 59 experts ...

An examination of the immune genes of the southern African Khoe-San people has revealed a completely new kind of mutation, according to researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. The gene variant likely contributes to healthier babies, although the variant can also lower resistance to disease. The findings grew out of a long-term effort by Peter Parham, PhD, professor of structural biology and of microbiology and immunology, to understand how immune system genes make us reject organ transplants. A paper detailing the findings will be published online ...

CORVALLIS, Ore. - Myriad regulations and certification requirements around the world are making it virtually impossible to use genetically engineered trees to combat catastrophic forest threats, according to a new policy analysis published this week in the journal Science. In the United States, the time is ripe to consider regulatory changes, the authors say, because the federal government recently initiated an update of the overarching Coordinated Framework for the Regulation of Biotechnology, which governs use of genetic engineering. North American forests are suffering ...

Are humans unsustainable 'super predators'? Want to see what science now calls the world's "super predator"? Look in the mirror. Research published today in the journal Science by a team led by Dr. Chris Darimont, the Hakai-Raincoast professor of geography at the University of Victoria, reveals new insight behind widespread wildlife extinctions, shrinking fish sizes and disruptions to global food chains. "These are extreme outcomes that non-human predators seldom impose," Darimont's team writes in the article titled "The Unique Ecology of Human Predators." "Our ...

Scientists have exposed a chink in the armour of disease-causing bugs, with a new discovery about a protein that controls bacterial defences. Bacteria react to stressful situations - such as running out of nutrients, coming under attack from antibiotics or encountering a host body's immune system - with a range of defence mechanisms. These include constructing a resistant outer coat, growing defensive structures on their surface or producing enzymes that break down the DNA of an attacker. The new research shows that a protein called sigma54 holds a bacterium's defences ...