Swarming insect provides clues to how the brain processes smells Our sense of smell is often the first response to environmental stimuli. Odors trigger neurons in the brain that alert us to take action. However, there is often more than one odor ...

Ancient minerals: Which gave rise to life? Washington, D.C.— Life originated as a result of natural processes that exploited early Earth's raw materials. Scientific models of life's origins almost always look to minerals for such essential tasks as the synthesis ...

Mach 1000 shock wave lights supernova remnant When a star explodes as a supernova, it shines brightly for a few weeks or months before fading away. Yet the material blasted outward from the explosion still glows hundreds or thousands ...

UCSB biomedical scientist discovers a new method to increase survival in sepsis The findings have the potential to translate into millions of saved lives (Santa Barbara, Calif.) — Sepsis, the body's response to severe infections, kills more people ...

Nanotubes can solder themselves, markedly improving device performance CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — University of Illinois researchers have developed a way to heal gaps in wires too small for even the world's tiniest soldering iron. Led by electrical ...

Increasing cropping frequency offers opportunity to boost food supply More frequent harvest could substantially boost global food production on existing agricultural lands MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (11/25/2013) —Harvesting existing cropland more frequently could substantially ...

Bad proteins branch out Rice U. researchers find misfolded proteins are capable of forming tree-like aggregates HOUSTON – (Nov. 25, 2013) – A method by Rice University researchers to model the way proteins fold – and sometimes misfold – has revealed branching behavior that ...

CSI-type study identifies snakehead Several Canadian biologists, including two at Simon Fraser University, are breathing a collective sigh of relief after learning that a monstrous fish found in a Burnaby, B.C. pond is not a northern snakehead. But they say ...

Sounding rocket to peek at atmosphere of Venus A week after launching a new orbiter to investigate the upper atmosphere of Mars, NASA is sending a sounding rocket to probe the atmosphere of Venus. The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, ...

Study: Arctic seafloor methane releases double previous estimates Storm activity hastens release of greenhouse gas into the atmosphere The seafloor off the coast of Northern Siberia is releasing more than twice the amount of methane as previously ...

Risk of HIV treatment failure present even in those with low viral load Study proposes new benchmarks for clinical treatment of HIV People with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) run a higher risk of virologic failure than previously thought, even ...

MR spectroscopy shows differences in brains of preterm infants CHICAGO – Premature birth appears to trigger developmental processes in the white matter of the brain that could put children at higher risk of problems later in life, according to a study ...

New tool developed for profiling critical regulatory structures of RNA molecules A molecular technique that will help the scientific community to analyze -- on a scale previously impossible -- molecules that play a critical role in regulating gene expression has been ...

Your first hug: How the early embryo changes shape In research published today in Nature Cell Biology, scientists from the EMBL Australia research team based at Monash University's Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute (ARMI) have revealed new ...

Pill-popping galaxy hooked on gas Our Galaxy may have been swallowing "pills" — clouds of gas with a magnetic wrapper — to keep making stars for the past eight billion years. That's the conclusion of CSIRO astronomer Dr Alex Hill, lead author of a study of the Smith Cloud, ...

Black hole jets pack a powerful punch High-speed 'jets' spat out by black holes pack a lot of power because they contain heavy atoms, astronomers have found. Black-hole jets recycle matter and energy into space and can affect when and where a galaxy forms stars. "Jets ...

The mushrooms, my friend, are blowing in the wind... Research at the APS Division of Fluid Dynamics Meeting in Pittsburgh shows how the mushroom spews its spores WASHINGTON D.C. Nov. 25, 2013 -- Plants use a variety of methods to spread their seeds, including ...

JCI early table of contents for Nov. 25, 2013 Predicting nasopharyngeal carcinoma patient response to radiation therapy Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) affects cells lining the nasopharynx. The majority of NPC cases can be cured by radiation therapy, ...

Predicting nasopharyngeal carcinoma patient response to radiation therapy Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) affects cells lining the nasopharynx. The majority of NPC cases can be cured by radiation therapy, however ~20% are resistant to radiation treatment. ...

Circadian clock proteins maintain neuronal cell function The circadian clock synchronizes the molecular activity of cells to their environment. The "core clock" of the circadian system is made up of a group of proteins that autonomously activate and ...

Identifying targets of autoantibodies Patients with the autoimmune disease systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) produce autoantibodies that target can cause damage to multiple organ systems. The host factors that are targeted by autoantibodies produced ...

Balancing T cell populations Depending on the signals received, naïve T cells are able to differentiate into mature T cell populations, which play different roles in the immune system. For example, regulatory T cells (Tregs) are important for tamping ...

Identification of a genetic mutation associated with steroid-resistant nephritic syndrome Patients with nephritic syndrome exhibit an array of symptoms that are associated with loss of kidney function, including excess protein in urine, swelling, and albuminuria. ...

Insights into type 2B von Willebrand disease In response to blood vessel damage, von Willebrand factor (vWF) binds to the exposed extra cellular matrix, recruits platelets to the site of injury, and activates platelets, which promotes thrombis formation. ...

One-third of older adults admitted to ICU deemed 'frail' One-third of older adults admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) were "frail," increasing the risk of death, illness and adverse events, according to a new study in CMAJ (Canadian ...