Global ocean currents explain why Northern Hemisphere is the soggier one A quick glance at a world precipitation map shows that most tropical rain falls in the Northern Hemisphere. The Palmyra Atoll, at 6 degrees north, gets 175 inches of rain a year, while an equal ...

2 genetic wrongs make a biochemical right Genetic mutation found to restore translational balance in mice WORCESTER, MA – In a biological quirk that promises to provide researchers with a new approach for studying and potentially treating ...

Flu virus wipes out immune system's first responders to establish infection CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (October 20, 2013) -- Revealing influenza's truly insidious nature, Whitehead Institute scientists have discovered that the virus is able to infect its ...

Blood stem cells age at the unexpected flip of a molecular switch Scientists report in Nature they have found a novel and unexpected molecular switch that could become a key to slowing some of the ravages of getting older as it prompts blood ...

Mixing nanoparticles to make multifunctional materials Standardized technique opens remarkable opportunities for 'mix and match' materials fabrication UPTON, NY-Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have developed ...

Rats! Humans and rodents process their mistakes Study finds parallels in neural processing of 'adaptive control' PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — People and rats may think alike when they've made a mistake and are trying to adjust their thinking. That's ...

Cells' 'molecular muscles' help them sense and respond to their environments Johns Hopkins researchers used suction to learn that individual "molecular muscles" within cells respond to different types of force, a finding that may explain how cells "feel" the ...

Inherited gene variation tied to high-risk pediatric leukemia and greater risk of relapse Study led by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital finds an inherited gene variation -- more common among Hispanic Americans -- is tied to increased risk of developing ...

Clean living is a luxury wild animals can't afford, study suggests Domestic animals will choose to steer clear of dirt – but their wild cousins can't be so picky and may be at increased risk of disease as a result. A study of wild mice has shown that ...

Large-scale deep re-sequencing reveals cucumber's evolutionary enigma The latest study was published online in Nature Genetics October 20, 2013, Shenzhen, China - In a collaborative study published online today in Nature Genetics, researchers from the Genome Centre of Chinese Academy of Agricultural ...

Neuron 'claws' in the brain enable flies to distinguish 1 scent from another Cold Spring Harbor, NY -- Think of the smell of an orange, a lemon, and a grapefruit. Each has strong acidic notes mixed with sweetness. And yet each fresh, bright scent is ...

Delayed gratification hurts climate change cooperation Time is a huge impediment when it comes to working together to halt the effects of climate change, new research suggests. A study published today in the journal Nature Climate Change reveals that ...

Study shows buying breast milk online is likely to cause illness in infants Results from a study led by researchers at Nationwide Children's Hospital found more than three-fourths of breast milk samples purchased over the Internet contained ...

Infant pertussis hospitalizations lower than expected after teen vaccinations Widespread vaccination of adolescents for pertussis was associated with lower rates of infant hospitalizations for the respiratory infection than would have been expected ...

Learning new skills keeps an aging mind sharp Older adults are often encouraged to stay active and engaged to keep their minds sharp, that they have to "use it or lose it." But new research indicates that only certain activities — learning ...

Personal and social concerns motivate organic food buyers Study offers tips for green advertising strategists PULLMAN, Wash. – Predicting whether consumers will purchase organic or conventional food is a multimillion dollar gamble within the food sector. ...

Fatal cholesterol disease overlooked and untreated Hereditary high blood cholesterol leads to premature heart disease. It is overlooked and untreated virtually worldwide -- including in Europe. This is a major problem as the disease ...

New idea for targeting the common cancer protein KRAS BOSTON — Patients with cancers driven by the protein KRAS, which are particularly hard to treat, may benefit from small molecules that attach to and disrupt the function of a KRAS-containing ...

Potential new drug for some patients with treatment-resistant lung cancer BOSTON — The investigational drug AZD9291, a third-generation EGFR inhibitor, showed promise in preclinical studies and provides hope for patients with advanced lung ...

Targeted investigational therapy potential to overcome crizotinib resistance in lung cancers BOSTON — PF-06463922, an investigational drug being developed by Pfizer Inc., has the potential to become a new treatment option for patients who ...

Potential new drug effective in breast cancer and melanoma resistant to targeted therapies BOSTON — LEE011, a small-molecule inhibitor of cyclin-dependent kinases (CDK) 4/6 being developed by Novartis Oncology, showed promising results in ...

Satellite sees extra-tropical Typhoon Wipha affecting Alaska Powerful Typhoon Wipha never made landfall in the northwestern Pacific but affected several land areas there as seen by NASA's Aqua and Terra satellites. By Oct. 18, extra-tropical storm Wipha moved into ...

Skid row cancer study has implications for treatment today, Penn researcher says An ethically dubious medical research study from the 1950s and 60s, known as the "Bowery series," foreshadowed and shared commonalities with prostate cancer screening ...

NASA's TRMM satellite monitors Typhoon Francisco Typhoon Francisco passed west of Guam on Oct. 18 as NASA and the Japan Space Agency's TRMM satellite passed overhead and measured its heavy rainfall. Francisco is forecast to intensify into a super typhoon. Francisco ...

How 'phenotype switching' can make melanoma become metastatic and resistant to drugs By understanding the Wnt5A signaling pathway, researchers may be able to determine which patients may respond more favorably to BRAF inhibitors One of the challenges of understanding ...