Orphaned chimpanzees are less socially competent than chimpanzees who were reared by their mother. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen, The Netherlands, observed that orphaned chimpanzees frequently engaged in social play, but their play bouts were much shorter and resulted in aggression more often. Apparently, chimpanzee mothers endow their offspring with important social skills. It may not come as a surprise, but mother chimpanzees seem to be important for the development of social skills in young chimpanzees. "Orphaned chimpanzees ...

The Rim Fire, now three weeks old, is still burning through Yosemite Forest. The blaze, thought to have been started by a hunter's illegal fire, has consumed over 246,000 acres of land. At present, this fire is 80% contained and is expected to be fully contained by September 20, 2013, over a month since it first began. According to Inciweb.org: "Fire activity is expected to intensify Friday as unburned areas within control lines are consumed on the Rim Fire. Hotter and drier weather conditions will persist through Sunday increasing the chance of spotting of embers ...

Coating artery-opening stents with a new compound may someday eliminate a common side effect of the treatment, according to preliminary research in the American Heart Association journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology. Stents are tiny mesh tubes that prop open clogged arteries so blood will flow freely to heart muscle, relieving chest pain and reducing the risk of heart attack. But implanting a stent damages the inner lining of the artery, triggering overgrowth of smooth muscle in the middle layer of the artery, a process that can re-narrow the passageway ...

Washington, DC -- New research has uncovered a process that is defective in patients with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease, a common cause of kidney failure. The findings, which appear in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN), point to a new potential strategy for preventing and treating the disease. Polycystic kidney disease (PKD), the fourth leading cause of kidney failure worldwide, comes in two forms: autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) develops in adulthood and is quite common, while autosomal recessive ...

Germ-free mice that received gut bacteria from obese humans put on more weight and accumulated more fat than mice that were given bacteria from the guts of lean humans, according to a new study. This finding, which demonstrates the transmission of physical and metabolic traits via communities of microbes in the gut, depends on the rodents' diet. And the researchers responsible suggest that it may represent an important step toward developing new personalized probiotic and food-based therapies for the treatment or prevention of obesity. This new research follows on the ...

This news release is available in Spanish, Japanese, Arabic and Chinese. Can the separate international commitments of protecting 17% of the planet's terrestrial surface and of conserving 60% of the world's plant species within these protected areas be met simultaneously by 2020? A new study suggests that they can—but only if researchers and conservationists do more to safeguard particularly hot spots of biodiversity. According to Lucas Joppa from Microsoft Research in Cambridge, England, and colleagues from the United Kingdom and the United States, the regions ...

A rare, emerging fungal disease that is spreading throughout Canada and Northwestern USA can easily pass its deadly genes to related fungal strains within the species but less readily to more distant relatives, according to a study part-funded by the Wellcome Trust. The findings will help to understand the origins of infectious outbreaks and predict the likelihood of the disease spreading to other populations and geographical areas. Cryptococcus gattii is a type of fungus that was previously only found in warmer climates throughout the tropics. However, since 1999 outbreaks ...

CINCINNATI – A biomarker test developed initially to identify early acute kidney injury (AKI) after surgery has been shown to successfully detect AKI in emergency room patients with a variety of urgent health issues. In a study published online Sept. 5 in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, the findings expand the overall utility and potential medical settings for using the test, according to researchers. The test measures the protein neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) as a biomarker of early AKI. It was invented by researchers ...

Certification of products from aquatic farming - aquaculture – is contributing to sustainable production, but it also has serious limits. Therefore it should be seen as one approach among many for steering aquaculture toward sustainability. This is argued by an international team of researchers in a paper published in Science on September 6th. Aquaculture is one of the fastest growing global food production systems, and now contributes around 13% of world animal-protein supply. It provides almost half of the world's supply of seafood. The rapid expansion of the sector ...

London -- The unhappiness of being in a bad job is strongly linked to people's decision to leave permanent work for the uncertain world of temporary employment, the British Sociological Association's conference in Warwick heard today. An analysis of data collected from almost 69,000 British people from 1991-2009 found that higher levels of anxiety and distress were a good indicator that people in a permanent job would leave to go into temping, casual work or seasonal labour. The research was carried out by Professor Don Webber and Dr Michail Veliziotis of the University ...

DURHAM, N.C. -- Protecting key regions that comprise just 17 percent of Earth's land may help preserve more than two-thirds of its plant species, according to a new Duke University-led study by an international team of scientists. The researchers from Duke, North Carolina State University and Microsoft Research used computer algorithms to identify the smallest set of regions worldwide that could contain the largest numbers of plant species. They published their findings today in the journal Science. "Our analysis shows that two of the most ambitious goals set forth ...

To protect consumers, screening shellfish for fungal toxins is important, say scientists. Research, published today (06 September) in the Society for Applied Microbiology (SfAM) journal, Letters in Applied Microbiology, shows that in an area with contamination by strains of Penicillium fungus, bivalve molluscs (clams, oysters, mussels, scallops, etc.) will contain toxins at much higher levels that are found in the surrounding environment. Professor Yves François Pouchus, from the University of Nantes, France, led the research, he said "A high level of toxins in the ...

VIDEO: Dr. Jean Hébert has found that inner-ear dysfunction can directly cause neurological changes that increase hyperactivity. The paper was published online September 6, 2013, in Science. Dr. Hébert is professor... Click here for more information. September 5, 2013 — (Bronx, NY) — Behavioral abnormalities are traditionally thought to originate in the brain. But a new study by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University has found that ...

Astronomers using a worldwide network of radio telescopes have found strong evidence that a powerful jet of material propelled to nearly light speed by a galaxy's central black hole is blowing massive amounts of gas out of the galaxy. This process, they said, is limiting the growth of the black hole and the rate of star formation in the galaxy, and thus is a key to understanding how galaxies develop. Astronomers have theorized that many galaxies should be more massive and have more stars than is actually the case. Scientists proposed two major mechanisms that would slow ...

Berkeley — Scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, have detected previously unknown channels of slow-moving seismic waves in Earth's upper mantle, a discovery that helps explain "hotspot volcanoes" that give birth to island chains such as Hawaii and Tahiti. Unlike volcanoes that emerge from collision zones between tectonic plates, hotspot volcanoes form in the middle of the plates. The prevalent theory for how a mid-plate volcano forms is that a single upwelling of hot, buoyant rock rises vertically as a plume from deep within Earth's mantle the layer found ...

SCIENTISTS at the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) have devised a novel method to identify suitable new homes for animals under threat from climate change. Conservation scientists used their knowledge on species ecology to create habitat suitability maps and correctly identify sites that will remain viable in the future regardless of changing climate. However, the key for success is to understand, and account for, the link between variation in species population size, climate and how the climate may change. Almost half of all bird and amphibian species are believed ...

COLLEGE PARK, Md — Scientists seeking to understand the forces at work beneath the surface of the Earth have used seismic waves to detect previously unknown "fingers" of heat, some of them thousands of miles long, in Earth's upper mantle. Their discovery, published Sept. 5 in Science Express, helps explain the "hotspot volcanoes" that give birth to island chains such as Hawai'i and Tahiti. Many volcanoes arise at collision zones between the tectonic plates, but hotspot volcanoes form in the middle of the plates. Geologists have hypothesized that upwellings of hot, buoyant ...

Johns Hopkins scientists have identified a molecular marker called "Mig 6" that appears to accurately predict longer survival -- up to two years -- among patients prescribed two of the most widely used drugs in a class of anticancer agents called EGFR inhibitors. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved drugs, gefitinib (Iressa) and erlotinib (Tarceva), are prescribed for lung and pancreatic cancer patients but only a few who have mutations in the EGFR gene usually benefit with a prolonged reduction of tumor size. The two drugs block the gene's ramped-up protein ...

Toronto -- Independent, financially-literate audit committees lead to higher firm values and less diversion of resources by management, shows a new study by researchers at the University of Toronto. But the paper, which looked at small companies that voluntarily adopted standards required of larger companies, also says it's important for regulators to stay flexible around rules requiring high-quality audit committees, particularly for smaller firms that may be hurt by expensive director compensation costs. The study was motivated by controversy surrounding a 2003 decision ...

New Orleans, LA – A team of researchers led by Charles D. Nichols, PhD, Associate Professor of Pharmacology at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, has successfully translated a new technology to better study behaviors and cellular function to fruit flies. This powerful genetic tool – Designer Receptors Exclusively Activated by Designer Drugs – allows scientists to selectively, rapidly, reversibly, and dose-dependently remotely control behaviors and physiological processes in the fly. The fruit fly shares a significant degree of similarity to humans and can be used ...

DURHAM, N.H. – Scientists, including University of New Hampshire astrophysicists involved in NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) mission, have discovered that the particles streaming into the solar system from interstellar space have likely changed direction over the last 40 years. The finding helps scientists map our location within the Milky Way galaxy and is crucial for understanding our place in the cosmos through the vast sweep of time—where we've come from, where we're currently located, and where we're going in our journey through the galaxy. Additionally, ...

Pure cardiac muscle cells, ready to transplant into a patient affected by heart disease. That's a goal for many cardiology researchers working with stem cells. Having a pure population of cardiac muscle cells is essential for avoiding tumor formation after transplantation, but has been technically challenging. Researchers at Emory and Georgia Tech have developed a method for purifying cardiac muscle cells from stem cell cultures using molecular beacons. Molecular beacons are tiny "instruments" that become fluorescent only when they find cells that have turned on ...

(Santa Barbara, Calif.) –– A new UCSB study that analyzed U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Census of Agriculture data spanning two decades (1987-2007) shows that the statistical magnitude, existence, and direction of the relationship between landscape simplification –– a term used for the conversion of natural habitat to cropland –– and insecticide use varies enormously year to year. While there was a positive relationship in 2007 –– more simplified landscapes received more insecticides –– it is absent or reversed in all previous years. The findings were published ...

HOUSTON, Sept. 5, 2013 – A University of Houston (UH) professor led a team of scientists to uncover the largest single volcano yet documented on Earth. Covering an area roughly equivalent to the British Isles or the state of New Mexico, this volcano, dubbed the Tamu Massif, is nearly as big as the giant volcanoes of Mars, placing it among the largest in the Solar System. William Sager, a professor in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at UH, first began studying the volcano about 20 years ago at Texas A&M's College of Geosciences. Sager and his team's findings ...

Tropical Storm Gabrielle has weakened to a depression by 11 a.m. EDT on Sept. 5, while three other low pressure areas struggle to develop in the Northern Atlantic Ocean. NOAA's GOES-East satellite captured a panoramic view of all four systems while NASA's Aqua satellite captured infrared data on Gabrielle and an adjacent low. NOAA's GOES-East satellite captured a view of Gabrielle, an unnamed system east of it, and Systems 99L and 98L on Sept. 5 at 10:45 a.m. EDT. NOAA's GOES-East satellite captured all four systems in a view across the entire Atlantic Ocean. The image ...