As recovering spring breakers are regretting binge drinking escapades, it may be hard for them to appreciate that there is a positive side to the nausea, sleepiness, and stumbling. University of Utah neuroscientists report that when a region of the brain called the lateral habenula is chronically inactivated in rats, they repeatedly drink to excess and are less able to learn from the experience. The study, published online in PLOS ONE on April 2, has implications for understanding behaviors that drive alcohol addiction. While complex societal pressures contribute to alcoholism, ...

Boulder, Colo., USA – The repeated cycles of plate tectonics that have led to collision and assembly of large supercontinents and their breakup and formation of new ocean basins have produced continents that are collages of bits and pieces of other continents. Figuring out the origin and make-up of continental crust formed and modified by these tectonic events is a vital to understanding Earth's geology and is important for many applied fields, such as oil, gas, and gold exploration. In many cases, the rocks involved in these collision and pull-apart episodes are still ...

On April 2, 2014, the sun emitted a mid-level solar flare, peaking at 10:05 a.m. EDT, and NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured imagery of the event. Solar flares are powerful bursts of radiation. Harmful radiation from a flare cannot pass through Earth's atmosphere to physically affect humans on the ground, however -- when intense enough -- they can disturb the atmosphere in the layer where GPS and communications signals travel. To see how this event may impact Earth, please visit NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center at http://spaceweather.gov, the U.S. government's ...

Powerful Tropical Cyclone Hellen rapidly weakened after hitting northwestern Madagascar but Hellen's remnants have recently started to show signs of life. The TRMM satellite flew over these remnants in the Mozambique Channel on April 2, 2014 at 0143 UTC. A rainfall analysis using the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission's (TRMM) Microwave Imager (TMI) and Precipitation Radar (PR) instruments found that some strong convective thunderstorms had developed in the area. It was revealed by TRMM PR data that rain was falling at a rate of over 75 mm/~ 3 inches in a few locations. TRMM's ...

A new study led by Lance Lesack, a Simon Fraser University geographer and Faculty of Environment professor, has discovered unexpected climate-driven changes in the mighty Mackenzie River's ice breakup. This discovery may help resolve the complex puzzle underlying why Arctic ice is disappearing more rapidly than expected. Lesack is the lead author on Local spring warming drives earlier river-ice breakup in a large Arctic delta. Published recently in Geophysical Research Letters, the study has co-authors at Wilfrid Laurier University, the University of Alberta and Memorial ...

PHILADELPHIA (April 2, 2014) – Our understanding of the role of body odor in conveying personal information continues to grow. New research from the Monell Chemical Senses Center and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reveals that immunization can trigger a distinct change in body odor. This is the first demonstration of a bodily odor change due to immune activation. The findings will appear in the April 10 issue of Physiology and Behavior. In addition, portions of the work will be presented on April 10 at the 36th Annual Meeting of the Association for Chemoreception ...

As the United States puts ever-greater emphasis on science, technology, engineering and mathematics education to keep competitive in the global economy, schools are trying to figure out how to improve student learning in science. University of Washington researchers Katie Davis and Greg Crowther think music may be the answer for some kids. They studied the ability of music videos to enhance students' understanding of scientific concepts. Davis will present "Sing about Science: Leveraging the Power of Music to Improve Science Education" on Friday (April 4) at the American ...

ARLINGTON, Va. (April 2, 2014) — Researchers at Winrock International have developed a first-of-its-kind method for estimating carbon emissions from forest degradation caused by selective logging in tropical regions. Refined over a period of 15 years and tested in six countries, the approach is highlighted in an article authored by Winrock's Ecosystems Services experts, Timothy Pearson, Sandra Brown and Felipe Casarim — published April 1 in Environmental Research Letters. Until now, efforts for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) in developing ...

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have added yet another innovation—miniature valves—to their ever-growing collection of inexpensive, easy-to-manufacture and highly efficient microfluidic devices made from plastic films and double-sided tape. Traditionally, microfluidic devices—tiny gadgets with fluid-carrying channels used in medical diagnostics, DNA forensics and "lab-on-a-chip" chemical analyzers—have been fabricated like microchips using photolithography. A desired pattern of micrometer-sized channels and ports is created on ...

Nearly two years after the conclusion of its space shuttle program left Americans wondering what would become of the spacefaring dreams of decades past, NASA has sought the advice of health and ethics experts for protecting astronauts on its "next generation" of long duration and exploration-class human spaceflights. Such missions, including extended stays on the International Space Station and flights to Mars, have higher risks and are unlikely to meet the space agency's current health standards. Options not on the table, according to the Institute of Medicine (IOM) ...

A team of researchers led by University of Notre Dame physicist Boldizsar Janko has announced analytical prediction and numerical verification of novel quantum rotor states in nanostructured superconductors. The international collaborative team points out that the classical rotor, a macroscopic particle of mass confined to a ring, is one of the most studied systems in classical mechanics. In a paper appearing in the April 1 issue of the journal Nature Scientific Reports, Janko and colleagues Shi-Hsin Lin, Milorad Milosevic, Lucian Covaci and Francois Peeters of the Universiteit ...

Frail elderly people living in residential care facilities are at increased risk of severe illness or death from outbreaks of viral gastroenteritis. This is the finding from a study led by Craig Davis from Department of Health Queensland, published in the April issue of the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health. "Importantly, prompt notification of outbreaks to public health units led to a much shorter duration of the outbreak," Mr Davis said. "Notification of outbreaks to public health units should occur within 24 hours of any outbreak so that diagnostic ...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — The surface of Mercury crackled with volcanic explosions for extended periods of the planet's history, according to a new analysis led by researchers at Brown University. The findings are surprising considering Mercury wasn't supposed to have explosive volcanism in the first place, and they could have implications for understanding how Mercury formed. On Earth, volcanic explosions like the one that tore the lid off Mount St. Helens happen because our planet's interior is rich in volatiles — water, carbon dioxide and other compounds ...

Despite high rates of contraceptive use, unwanted pregnancies resulting in terminations remain high among young women. In an article in the April issue of the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, Danielle Mazza from Monash University, and colleagues, examine the paradox of high rates of contraceptive use, over the counter availability of emergency contraception and unplanned pregnancy. "The emergency contraceptive pill has been available to women for over-the-counter purchase since 2004," Professor Mazza said. "Together with high rates of contraceptive ...

The centimeter-sized fragments and smaller particles that make up the regolith — the layer of loose, unconsolidated rock and dust — of small asteroids is formed by temperature cycling that breaks down rock in a process called thermal fatigue, according to a paper published today in the Nature Advance Online Publication. Previous studies suggested that the regolith of asteroids one kilometer wide and smaller was made from material falling to the surface after impacts and from boulders that were pulverized by micrometeoroid impacts. Recent laboratory experiments and impact ...

JUPITER, FL, April 2, 2014 – A team led by a scientist from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) has identified a new biomarker linked to better outcomes of patients with head and neck cancers and non-small cell lung cancer. The work could help scientists develop new diagnostics and therapies and help physicians determine the best long-term treatments for patients with these cancers. The findings, which were published this week online ahead of print by the journal Cancer, focus on a protein called Choline phosphate cytidylyltransferase-α CCT-α ...

KANSAS CITY, MO - In textbooks, the grand-finale of cell division is the tug-of-war fought inside dividing cells as duplicated pairs of chromosomes get dragged in opposite directions into daughter cells. This process, called mitosis, is visually stunning to observe under a microscope. Equally stunning to cell biologists are the preparatory steps cells take to ensure that the process occurs safely. Molecular biologists define those "cell cycle" steps as: G1, when cells survey chromosomes for damage and, if they pass muster, prepare to replicate them; S phase, in which ...

COLLEGE PARK, MD - A new analytical tool adds human factors to a widely-used biological model of how animal populations interact, suggesting that human societies can reach a steady state that is sustainable when they do not over-deplete natural resources and avoid extreme economic inequality. The paper, titled "Human and nature dynamics (HANDY): modeling inequality and use of resources in the collapse or sustainability of societies," was published in the May 2014 issue of the journal Ecological Economics. Its authors are Safa Motesharrei, a Ph.D. candidate in applied ...

It is often difficult to decide whether two animals belong to the same or two distinct species. This can be especially challenging for animals which externally look very similar. In a recent study, published in the open access journal Zoosystematics and Evolution, scientists from the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin use genetic data and sound analysis to test if treefrogs from West and Central Africa belong to different or the same species. Due to the fact that, when external characters are used, only size is useful to distinguish these frogs the scientists employed additional ...

Scientists studying the behavior of the world's ice sheets--and the future implications of ice sheet behavior for global sea-level rise--may soon have a new airborne tool that will allow radar measurements that previously would have been prohibitively expensive or difficult to carry out with manned aircraft. In a paper published in the March/ April edition of IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine, researchers at the Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets (CReSIS) at the University of Kansas noted that they have successfully tested the use of a compact radar system ...

(Millbrook, NY) Anyone that has spent time at a seaside pier has witnessed the destruction barnacles wreak on boat hulls. But biofouling animals are not limited to marine environments. A new paper published in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment estimates that the global management of freshwater mussels, clams, and other clinging animals costs $277 million U.S. dollars annually. Biofoulers are organisms that accumulate underwater on hard surfaces, to the detriment of property and economically important activities, such as shipping, power generation, ...

PRINCETON, N.J.—Non-native speakers exposed to English before moving to America are more likely to use the language in their daily lives in the United States, according to a report led by Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. Such early exposure – through newspapers, books, TV and classes as well as traveling – may help determine an immigrant's socioeconomic mobility, as English proficiency is strongly tied to cultural and social assimilation. The report, featured in the journal Social Science Research, is one of the first ...

Americans used more renewable, fossil and even nuclear energy in 2013, according to the most recent energy flow charts released by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Each year, the Laboratory releases energy flow charts that illustrate the nation's consumption and use of energy. Overall, Americans used 2.3 quadrillion thermal units more in 2013 than the previous year. The Laboratory also has released a companion chart illustrating the nation's energy-related carbon dioxide emissions. Americans' carbon dioxide emissions increased to 5,390 million metric tons, ...

Sirenians, or sea cows, are a particular group of mammals that superficially resembles whales in having, amongst other features, a streamlined-body and horizontal tail fluke. Though belonging to the so-called marine mammals, such as whales and seals, sea cows are members of a group having a single origin that includes their closest living relatives, the proboscideans (or elephants in the broader sense). Today, sirenians are known by only four species, but their fossil record is much more diverse documenting the transition from land-dwelling animals to fully aquatic ones. ...

MEDIA ADVISORY: Institute of Medicine Committee to Report on Ethical Guidelines For Health Standards on Next Generation of NASA Missions: Long Duration and Exploration Spaceflights WHEN: Embargoed until Wednesday April 2, 2014 11:00 AM EDT WHAT: Spaceflights beyond low earth orbit or lasting longer than 30 days, including extended stays on the International Space Station and missions to Mars, will likely expose astronauts to increased and even unknown levels of risk, and therefore would not meet NASA's current health standards. The space agency commissioned a report ...