The Earth and the planets of our solar system are not alone in the universe. Over the past few decades, the hunt for extrasolar planets has yielded incredible discoveries, and now planetary researchers have a new tool—simulated models of how planets are born. Most planets form when a molecular cloud collapses into a young star. The leftover gas and dust form a disk around the star, and the particulates inside the disk begin to collide and coalesce over millions of years, forming larger and larger objects until a planet eventually takes shape. Sally Dodson Robinson, ...

Los Angeles, CA (September 4, 2012) While the effects of sexualized media on young women has long been debated, a new study finds that women who read sex-related magazine articles from popular women's magazines like Cosmopolitan are less likely to view premarital sex as a risky behavior. Additionally, the women who are exposed to these articles are more supportive of sexual behavior that both empowers women and prioritizes their own sexual pleasure. This study was published in a recent article from Psychology of Women Quarterly (published by SAGE). Study authors Janna ...

The Pink Double Dandy peony, the Double Peppermint petunia, the Doubled Strawberry Vanilla lily and nearly all roses are varieties cultivated for their double flowers. The blossoms of these and other such plants are lush with extra petals in place of the parts of the flower needed for sexual reproduction and seed production, meaning double flowers – though beautiful – are mutants and usually sterile. The genetic interruption that causes that mutation helped scientists in the 1990s pinpoint the genes responsible for normal development of sexual organs stamens and carpels ...

Disease-free survival for invasive ductal breast cancer (IDC) patients may be easier to predict with the help of F-18-fludeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) scans, according to research published in the September issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine. New data show that high maximum standard uptake value (SUVmax) of F-18-FDG in the lymph nodes prior to treatment could be an independent indicator of disease recurrence. "Many studies have revealed that breast cancer patients with axillary lymph node metastasis have a significantly ...

New Rochelle, NY, September 4, 2012—The use of RNA in nanotechnology applications is highly promising for many applications, including the development of new therapeutic compounds. Key technical challenges remain, though, and the challenges and opportunities associated with the use of RNA molecules in nanotechnology approaches are presented in a review article in Nucleic Acid Therapeutics, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. The article is available free online at the Nucleic Acid Therapeutics website. Peixuan Guo and colleagues, University of Kentucky, ...

HOUSTON – (Sept. 4, 2012) – Researchers at Rice University and the Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium, have developed a way to make flexible components for rechargeable lithium-ion (LI) batteries from discarded silicon. The Rice lab of materials scientist Pulickel Ajayan created forests of nanowires from high-value but hard-to-recycle silicon. Silicon absorbs 10 times more lithium than the carbon commonly used in LI batteries, but because it expands and contracts as it charges and discharges, it breaks down quickly. The Ajayan lab reports this week in the journal ...

A University of Central Florida research team has created the world's shortest laser pulse and in the process may have given scientists a new tool to watch quantum mechanics in action – something that has been hidden from view until now. UCF Professor Zenghu Chang from the Department of Physics and the College of Optics and Photonics, led the effort that generated a 67-attosecond pulse of extreme ultraviolet light. The results of his research are published online under Early Posting in the journal Optics Letters. An attosecond is an incomprehensible quintillionith ...

When WHOI geologist Liviu Giosan first reconstructed the history of how the Danube River built its delta, he was presented with a puzzle. In the delta's early stages of development, the river deposited its sediment within a protected bay. As the delta expanded onto the Black Sea shelf in the late Holocene and was exposed to greater waves and currents, rather than seeing the decline in sediment storage that he expected, Giosan found the opposite. The delta continued to grow. In fact, it has tripled its storage rate. If an increase in river runoff was responsible for ...

MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL (09/04/2012) — Researchers from the University of Minnesota's College of Veterinary Medicine, concerned about the use of antibiotics in animal production, have found that antimicrobial growth promoters administered to swine can alter the kind of bacteria present in the animal's intestinal track, resulting in an accelerated rate of growth and development in the animals. Antibiotics are routinely administered to swine to treat illness and to promote larger, leaner animals. The results of the study, conducted by Richard Isaacson, Ph.D., microbiologist ...

You're in the supermarket eyeing a basket of sweet, juicy plums. You reach for the conventionally grown stone fruit, then decide to spring the extra $1/pound for its organic cousin. You figure you've just made the healthier decision by choosing the organic product — but new findings from Stanford University cast some doubt on your thinking. "There isn't much difference between organic and conventional foods, if you're an adult and making a decision based solely on your health," said Dena Bravata, MD, MS, the senior author of a paper comparing the nutrition of organic ...

PASADENA, Calif.—Scientists and engineers around the world are working to find a way to power the planet using solar-powered fuel cells. Such green systems would split water during daylight hours, generating hydrogen (H2) that could then be stored and used later to produce water and electricity. But robust catalysts are needed to drive the water-splitting reaction. Platinum catalysts are quite good at this, but platinum is too rare and expensive to scale up for use worldwide. Several cobalt and nickel catalysts have been suggested as cheaper alternatives, but there is still ...

Irvine, Calif., Sept. 4, 2012 – Repeated exposure to violent images from the terrorist attacks of Sept ember 11 and the Iraq War led to an increase in physical and psychological ailments in a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults, according to a new UC Irvine study. The study sheds light on the lingering effects of "collective traumas" such as natural disasters, mass shootings and terrorist attacks. A steady diet of graphic media images may have long-lasting mental and physical health consequences, says study author Roxane Cohen Silver, UCI professor of psychology ...

A North Carolina State University researcher has created a roadmap to areas of the brain associated with affective aggression in mice. This roadmap may be the first step toward finding therapies for humans suffering from affective aggression disorders that lead to impulsive violent acts. Affective aggression differs from defensive aggression or premeditated aggression used by predators, in that the role of affective aggression isn't clear and could be considered maladaptive. NC State neurobiologist Dr. Troy Ghashghaei was interested in finding the areas of the brain engaged ...

Vitamin D has been touted for its beneficial effects on a range of human systems, from enhancing bone health to reducing the risk of developing certain cancers. But it does not improve cholesterol levels, according to a new study conducted at The Rockefeller University Hospital. A team of scientists has shown that, at least in the short term, cholesterol levels did not improve when volunteers with vitamin D deficiency received mega-doses of vitamin D. The finding is published in the journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology. The researchers, led by Manish ...

BEER-SHEVA, ISRAEL, September 4, 2012 -- Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) researchers have determined that preeclampsia is a significant risk factor for long-term health issues, such as chronic hypertension and hospitalizations later in life. The findings from the retrospective cohort study were just published in the Journal of Maternal-Fetal and Neonatal Medicine. Thousands of women and their babies die or get very sick from preeclampsia; it affects approximately 5 to 8 percent of all pregnancies. It is a rapidly progressive condition characterized by high blood ...

HOUSTON – Biologic therapies developed in the last decade for rheumatoid arthritis are not associated with an increased risk of cancer when compared with traditional treatments for the condition, according to new research from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. The study, published in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), is the largest systematic review evaluating the risk of developing any malignancy among rheumatoid arthritis patients using approved biologic response modifiers (BRMs), several of which include tumor necrosis factor ...

(Edmonton) University of Alberta led research shows an elk's personality type is a big factor in whether or not it survives the hunting season. Data collected from GPS collars on more than 100 male and female elk in southwestern Alberta showed U of A researchers the study population could be divided into two categories: bold runners and shy hiders: Bold-runner elk, both males and females, moved quickly through the study area and preferred to graze in open fields for the most abundant and nutritious grass. GPS data showed shy hiders stayed and grazed on the sparse vegetation ...

The protection of the savings of the elderly—one of the primary goals of Medicare—is under threat from a combination of spiraling healthcare costs and increased longevity. As the government attempts to reduce Medicare costs, one suggestion is that the elderly could pay a larger proportion of the costs of their healthcare. But exactly how much would this be and what impact would it have on their finances? A new study by Amy Kelley at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and her colleagues, funded by the National Institute on Aging, aims to identify the portion of wealth ...

Tropical Storm John had about one day of fame in the Eastern Pacific. Born Tropical Depression 10, it intensified into Tropical Storm John on Sept. 2 at 5 a.m. EDT and maintained maximum sustained winds of 40 mph (65 kmh) until it weakened back into a depression on Monday, Sept. 3 at 11 p.m. EDT. NASA's Aqua satellite flew over John on Sept. 3 at 2041 UTC (4:41 p.m. EDT) during its brief time as a tropical storm and noticed convection (rising air that forms thunderstorms that make up the storm) and coldest cloud top temperatures seemed to be limited to the northeastern ...

Over the weekend of Aug. 31 to Sept. 2, Tropical Storm Leslie's maximum sustained winds were pretty constant and satellite imagery from NASA's Aqua and Terra satellites confirm the steadiness of the storm. That story is expected to change later this week however, as Leslie nears Bermuda and is expected to reach hurricane strength. Meanwhile, Leslie is still about the same strength today, Sept. 4 because of wind shear. Two visible images from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument that flies onboard both of NASA's Aqua and Terra satellites ...

Tiny Tropical Storm Michael formed today, Sept. 4, from the thirteenth tropical depression in the Atlantic Ocean, but it seems that wind shear will make Michael struggle to intensify over the next couple of days like his "sister" Tropical Storm Leslie. Isaac's remnants blanket the U.S. east coast. Leslie has been a tropical storm since late Aug. and has not yet reached hurricane strength because of wind shear, although that is expected to change. Isaac's remnants are also struggling, but struggling to get off the land and back into the Atlantic Ocean. Isaac's remnants ...

JUPITER, FL - Scientists on the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have designed a compound that shows promise as a potential therapy for one of the diseases closely linked to fragile X syndrome, a genetic condition that causes mental retardation, infertility, and memory impairment, and is the only known single-gene cause of autism. The study, published online ahead of print in the journal ACS Chemical Biology September 4, 2012, focuses on tremor ataxia syndrome, which usually affects men over the age of 50 and results in Parkinson's like-symptoms—trembling, ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – New research suggests that violent video games may not make players more aggressive – if they play cooperatively with other people. In two studies, researchers found that college students who teamed up to play violent video games later showed more cooperative behavior, and sometimes less signs of aggression, than students who played the games competitively. The results suggest that it is too simplistic to say violent video games are always bad for players, said David Ewoldsen, co-author of the studies and professor of communication at Ohio State University. "Clearly, ...

There isn't a hard and fast rule for how long doctors should perform CPR, but new research from the University of Michigan Health System shows longer attempts might be beneficial for some patients. Most cardiac arrest patients are often successfully resuscitated after a short period of time – about 12 minutes on average. Practitioners are often reluctant to perform longer attempts – those that can last 30 minutes or longer – because if patients do not survive early on during cardiac arrest, their overall prognosis is poor. The research from U-M, however, shows that ...

Fanconi anemia is a recessive genetic disorder affecting 1 in 350,000 babies, which leaves cells unable to repair damaged DNA. This lack of repair puts Fanconi anemia patients at high risk for developing a variety of cancers, especially leukemias and head and neck cancer. Cruelly, the condition also nixes the use of an entire class of cancer drugs, namely drugs like mitomycin C that act by encouraging DNA to crosslink together like sticky strands of bread dough – generally, healthy cells can repair a few crosslinks whereas cancer cells cannot and so are killed. However, ...