The Planck space mission has today (March 21) released the most accurate and detailed map ever made of the oldest light in the universe. The universe according to Planck is expanding a bit more slowly than thought, and at 13.8 billion is 100 million years older than previously estimated. There is a bit less dark energy and a bit more of both normal and dark matter in the universe — although the nature of dark energy and dark matter remain mysterious. "Planck's high-precision map of the oldest light in our universe allows us to extract the most refined values yet of the ...

Alexandria, VA, March 21, 2013 — A New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) study showing that physical therapy is just as effective as surgery in patients with meniscal tears and arthritis of the knee should encourage many health care providers to reconsider their practices in the management of this common injury, according to the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA). The study, published March 19, showed no significant differences in functional improvement after 6 months between patients who underwent surgery with postoperative physical therapy and those who received ...

Dr Shelby Temple, now at the University of Bristol, and his team at the University of Queensland and the University of Western Australia used a modified version of the Landolt C test to discover just how fine a detail the archerfish could resolve. The researchers first trained the fish to spit at one of two letters – an 'O' or a 'C' – by rewarding them with food. Then they showed them small versions of both letters together and recorded which letter they spat at. Dr Temple said: "This modified Landolt C test works because the only difference between the two letters ...

Using quantum mechanical phenomena, computers could be much more powerful than their classical digital predecessors. Scientists all over the world are working to explore the basis for quantum computing. To date most systems are based on electrically charged particles that are held in an "electromagnetic trap." A disadvantage of these systems is that they are very sensitive to electromagnetic interference and therefore need extensive shielding. Physicists at the Technische Universitaet Muenchen have now found a way for information to be stored and quantum mechanically processed ...

A little more than a year after the FDA approved Kalydeco (Vx-770), the first drug of its kind to treat the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis, University of Missouri researchers believe they have found exactly how this drug works and how to improve its effectiveness in the future. Described in the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, MU researchers have redefined a key regulatory process in the defective protein responsible for cystic fibrosis that could change the way scientists approach the lethal genetic disease. "They know the drug ...

The Seven Star Global Luxury Awards continues to gain momentum with online voting already exceeding expectations after only a few weeks. With the most sought-after brands in the travel, tourism and hospitality industries vying to be honored with the Signum Virtutis - the seal of excellence, being bestowed upon them for 2013; competition is becoming fierce on a global scale. The results will be revealed at the Awards Ceremony; honoring this elite collection of nominees with this highest and most exclusive award for being the pinnacle of luxury and lifestyle in these ...

During the winter, manatees in Florida rely on warm-water refuges in the southern peninsula, and consistently return to one more specific areas. This new study assessed the proportion of manatees that use natural springs, power plant discharge areas, and passive 'thermal basins' that trap warm water for a week or more. They found that nearly half of all animals they counted sought out power plant outfalls for warmth, while approximately 17% chose warm springs. In the coldest periods the proportion at power plants can increase to two-thirds. Despite this relatively small ...

The authors note, "People who spend time with young children will know that they often favor themselves when sharing, but surprisingly they endorse equal sharing not just by other people but also in their own case. In our research, we were able to rule out a number of explanations for this early gap between word and deed." When the researchers gave 3-8-year-olds stickers they valued and asked them about sharing, children of all ages readily asserted that they themselves should share equally, and others should as well. However, when given the chance to actually share, ...

The authors analyzed trends in the use of 'mood words' that convey joy, anger, fear and other emotions and found a general, overall decrease in the use of words that convey emotions. They found distinct historical periods of positive and negative moods in books that correlated with socio-political events like World War II, the Great Depression or the Baby Boom. In contrast to the five other moods studied, words that convey fear showed an opposite trend. Words conveying fear declined in use through the early 20th century but increased markedly since the 1970s, despite ...

Please cite the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (BSSA) as the source of this information. Built under a sheer cliff, with a commanding view of the forum and castle in the ancient city of Pinara in Turkey, a Roman mausoleum has been knocked off-kilter, its massive building blocks shifted and part of its pediment collapsed. The likely cause is an earthquake, according to a new detailed model by Klaus-G. Hinzen and colleagues at the University of Cologne. They conclude that a 6.3 magnitude earthquake could have caused the damage, and their new finding gives ...

Please cite the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (BSSA) as the source of this information. New information about the extent of the 1872 Owens Valley earthquake rupture, which occurs in an area with many small and discontinuous faults, may support a hypothesis proposed by other workers that these types of quakes could produce stronger ground shaking than plate boundary earthquakes underlain by oceanic crust, like many of those taking place along the San Andreas fault. Published estimates of the 1872 Owens Valley earthquake in southeastern California put ...

For the first time, researchers have shown that poorly controlled maternal diabetes has an adverse effect on methylation of the maternal imprinting gene Peg3, contributing to impaired development in offspring. Previous studies have revealed that offspring of diabetic mothers display a higher incidence of malformations and fetal death, even when a one-cell embryo is transplanted from a diabetic to a non-diabetic mother. Diabetic mothers' oocytes tend to exhibit reduced glucose metabolism, compromised communication between cumulus cells and oocytes, mitochondrial malfunction, ...

WASHINGTON — Researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) have found what they say is evidence that veterans who suffer from "Gulf War Illness" have physical changes in their brains not seen in unaffected individuals. Brain scans of 31 veterans with the illness, compared to 20 control subjects, revealed anomalies in the bundles of nerve fibers that connect brain areas involved in the processing and perception of pain and fatigue. The discovery, published online March 20 in PLOS ONE, could provide insight into the mysterious medical symptoms reported by more ...

Long-term follow-up of a phase II study from KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme and Oxford University researchers in Kenya shows that the efficacy of a malaria vaccine candidate, RTS,S, wanes over time and varies with exposure to the malaria parasite. The findings will help to inform which populations are likely to benefit most from the vaccine candidate. They also have important implications for the design of future clinical trials of this and other vaccine candidates and highlight the importance of long-term follow-up studies for assessing vaccine efficacy. The ...

"The 4(1H)-quinolone-3- diarylethers are selective potent inhibitors of the parasite mitochondrial cytochrome bc1 complex," Professor Avery said. "These compounds are highly active against the types of malaria parasites which infect humans, Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax," she said. "What is really exciting about this study is that a new class of drugs based on the 4(1H)-quinolone-3- diarylethers would target the malaria parasite at different stages of its lifecycle." This provides the potential to not only kill the parasite in people who are infected, ...

A survey of UK doctors found that 97% have prescribed placebo treatments to patients at least once in their career. Researchers at the Universities of Oxford and Southampton in the UK discovered that 97% of doctors have used 'impure' placebo treatments, while 12% have used 'pure' placebos. 'Impure' placebos are treatments that are unproven, such as antibiotics for suspected viral infections, or more commonly non-essential physical examinations and blood tests performed to reassure patients. 'Pure' placebos are treatments such as sugar pills or saline injections which ...

Boston, MA — Women who experienced physical, emotional, or sexual abuse as children are more likely to have a child with autism than women who were not abused, according to a new study from Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH). Those who experienced the most serious abuse had the highest likelihood of having a child with autism — three-and-a-half times more than women who were not abused. "Our study identifies a completely new risk factor for autism," said lead author Andrea Roberts, research associate in the HSPH Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences. "Further ...

Scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego have found a layer of liquefied molten rock in Earth's mantle that may be acting as a lubricant for the sliding motions of the planet's massive tectonic plates. The discovery may carry far-reaching implications, from solving basic geological functions of the planet to a better understanding of volcanism and earthquakes. The scientists discovered the magma layer at the Middle America trench offshore Nicaragua. Using advanced seafloor electromagnetic imaging technology pioneered at Scripps, the scientists ...

STANFORD, Calif. — The promise of repairing damaged hearts through regenerative medicine — infusing stem cells into the heart in the hope that these cells will replace worn out or damaged tissue — has yet to meet with clinical success. But a highly sensitive visualization technique developed by Stanford University School of Medicine scientists may help speed that promise's realization. The technique is described in a study to be published March 20 in Science Translational Medicine. Testing the new imaging method in humans is probably three to five years off. Human and ...

Tampa, FL (March 20, 2013) -- University of South Florida researchers played a key role in an international multidisciplinary project that has yielded a promising new antimalarial drug with the potential to cure the mosquito-borne disease and block its transmission with low doses. Roman Manetsch, PhD, USF associate professor of chemistry, and Dennis Kyle, PhD, USF professor of global health, were co-leaders of the USF team, which helped to discover and develop a series of potent compounds to combat malaria known as the 4-(1H)-quinolone-3-diarylethers, or quinolones. The ...

The use of words with emotional content in books has steadily decreased throughout the last century, according to new research from the Universities of Bristol, Sheffield, and Durham. The study, published today in PLOS ONE, also found a divergence between American and British English, with the former being more 'emotional' than the latter. The researchers looked at how frequently 'mood' words were used through time in a database of more than five million digitised books provided by Google. The list of words was divided into six categories (anger, disgust, fear, joy, ...

Two leading ecologists say a rapid proliferation of roads across the planet is causing irreparable damage to nature, but properly planned roads could actually help the environment. "Loggers, miners and other road builders are putting roads almost everywhere, including places they simply shouldn't go, such as wilderness areas," said Professor Andrew Balmford of the University of Cambridge, UK. "Some of these roads are causing environmental disasters." "The current situation is largely chaos," said Professor William Laurance of James Cook University in Cairns, Australia. ...

Men who have children at older ages are more likely to have grandchildren with autism compared to younger grandfathers, according to new research. This is the first time that research has shown that risk factors for autism may accumulate over generations. The study led by King's College London's Institute of Psychiatry, Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and the Queensland Brain Institute in Australia is published today in JAMA Psychiatry. By using Swedish national registers, researchers identified 5,936 individuals with autism and 30,923 healthy controls born in Sweden ...

(Embargoed) CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – New research from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine for the first time explains exactly how two brain regions interact to promote emotionally motivated behaviors associated with anxiety and reward. The findings could lead to new mental health therapies for disorders such as addiction, anxiety, and depression. A report of the research was published online by the journal, Nature, on March 20, 2013. Located deep in the brain's temporal lobe are tightly packed clusters of brain cells in the almond shaped amygdala that are ...

(Boston) – Research from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) shows that improving vitamin D status by increasing its level in the blood could have a number of non-skeletal health benefits. The study, published online in PLOS ONE, reveals for the first time that improvement in the vitamin D status of healthy adults significantly impacts genes involved with a number of biologic pathways associated with cancer, cardiovascular disease (CVD), infectious diseases and autoimmune diseases. While previous studies have shown that vitamin D deficiency is associated with an ...