New research from Mount Sinai School of Medicine has discovered that rhodopsin, a pigment of the retina that is responsible for the first events in the perception of light, may also be involved in temperature sensation. This detection had not been revealed in previous studies. The work emerged from a collaboration between the laboratory of Andrew Chess, M.D., Professor in the Departments of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology and Genetics and Genomic Sciences at Mount Sinai, and the laboratory of Craig Montell, Ph.D., Professor of Biological Chemistry ...

The United States Department of Transportation says that almost 5,500 people died and half a million were injured in 2009 in crashes involving distracted drivers. A recent accident on Interstate 81 in Pennsylvania brings new life to these staggering statistics. A dump truck carrying 24 tons of rock salt crashed caused a five-vehicle crash in the Susquehanna township. State police believe the truck driver was distracted, although they have not yet said how. Police investigating the fatal truck accident said that the truck driver never slowed when approaching stopped traffic ...

This release is available in German. The droning of a car driving along the highway can be nerve-racking. Often, a driver cannot understand the passengers in the rear seat, not to mention the pianissimo on the car stereo. Actually, though, there are ways to drive this disruptive vibration out of the car. This is possible thanks to "smart materials" – intelligent materials that can tailor their own condition to changing situations with highest speed. The possible applications are diverse and promising – not just for carmakers but also for mechanical engineering and the ...

An Australian study to determine the likelihood of school-aged children waking up to their home smoke alarm found that 78% of children slept through a smoke alarm sounding for 30 seconds. The outcomes of the study are published today in the journal Fire and Materials. Home smoke detectors have been relied on since the 1960s, and have been known to save lives in domestic fires. The study's results show children are most at risk of not waking up to the sound of their home's smoke detector. Though related studies have been conducted in the past, the sample size used in ...

What is UM Insurance? Uninsured motorist insurance, or UM or UMI, provides protection when you are in an accident with an uninsured driver. UM also provides benefits in cases when you are involved in a hit and run accident so long as the uninsured vehicle made physical contact with your car. In addition to UM coverage, there also is UIM, or underinsured motorist, coverage. UIM provides benefits when you are in an accident with a driver who does not have enough insurance to cover all of your losses - which you are at risk of having happen any time you are in an accident ...

Nanoscale whiskers from sea creatures could grow human muscle tissue Minute whiskers of nanoscale dimensions taken from sea creatures could hold the key to creating working human muscle tissue, University of Manchester researchers have discovered. Scientists have found that cellulose from tunicates, commonly known as sea squirts, can influence the behaviour of skeletal muscle cells in the laboratory. These nanostructures are several thousand times smaller than muscle cells and are the smallest physical feature found to cause cell alignment. Alignment is important ...

SAN ANTONIO (March 11, 2011) — Cell biologists pondering the death of neurons — brain cells — said today that by eliminating one ingredient from the cellular machinery, they prolonged the life of neurons stressed by a pesticide chemical. The finding identifies a potential therapeutic target to slow changes that lead to neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases. The researchers, from The University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio, found that neurons lacking a substance called caspase-2 were better able to withstand pesticide-induced ...

Bruno Mars became a forefront figure in the music industry the minute his popular songs like "Grenade" and "Just the Way You Are" hit the airwaves. But his honest and wholesome image soon became tainted when media outlets exposed his recent cocaine bust last September 2010 in a public restroom at the popular Las Vegas Hard Rock Hotel. Since then, not much has been disclosed about Mars' legal woes--until now. The Associated Press reports that the singer recently accepted a plea deal. Mars, whose real name is Peter Hernandez, pled guilty last month to a felony cocaine ...

BOSTON/NEW YORK – March 11, 2011 –A study by Professor Stephan Meier, Assistant Professor, Management at Columbia Business School, and co-author Andreas Fuster, Ph.D. candidate, Harvard University Department of Economics, which was published in Management Science, an INFORMSR publication, found that while monetary incentives in the workplace, such as subsidies or bonuses, are regarded to be effective ways to encourage staff contributions, incentives can interfere in public and workplace environments dependent on informal norm enforcement. In the context of this study, informal ...

Scientists are collaborating on a new international research project to identify antibiotics that can kill tuberculosis and fight resistant strains. "We want to accelerate the discovery of new compounds that can be turned into effective drugs," said Professor Tony Maxwell from the John Innes Centre, a key player in "More Medicines for Tuberculosis", a new European research project. Two billion people are currently infected with TB and three million die every year. TB causes more deaths than any other infectious disease. Rates are increasing, especially in sub-Saharan ...

Each year, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) numbers show that there are more than 4 million babies born. While most of the babies born each year are healthy infants, it is estimated that approximately 185,000 are born each year with health problems from genetic disorders such as spina bifida or Down syndrome; and another five to seven newborns per 1,000 experience birth injuries or birth trauma that can cause permanent damage, such as Erb's palsy or cerebral palsy. Parents experience a significant amount of stress and anxiety in the course of pregnancy, childbirth ...

A longstanding debate as to whether genius is a byproduct of good genes or good environment has an upstart challenger that may take the discussion in an entirely new direction. University of Alberta researcher Marty Mrazik says being bright may be due to an excess level of a natural hormone. Mrazik, a professor in the Faculty of Education's educational psychology department, and a colleague from Rider University in the U.S., have published a paper in Roeper Review linking giftedness (having an IQ score of 130 or higher) to prenatal exposure of higher levels of testosterone. ...

Proteins in fluids bathing the brain are essential for building the brain, discover scientists in a report published March 10 in the journal Neuron. The finding promises to advance research related to neurological disease, cancer and stem cells. Before now, the fluid surrounding the brain was generally considered to be a sort of salt-solution that simply maintained the brain's ionic balance. Recent reports of fluctuating proteins in the fluid suggested otherwise, however. And thus, a multi-institutional research teams at the Children's Hospital in Boston, led by Maria ...

RIVERSIDE, Calif. - Cheer up. Stop worrying. Don't work so hard. Good advice for a long life? As it turns out, no. In a groundbreaking study of personality as a predictor of longevity, University of California, Riverside researchers found just the opposite. "It's surprising just how often common assumptions – by both scientists and the media – are wrong," said Howard S. Friedman, distinguished professor of psychology who led the 20-year study. Friedman and Leslie R. Martin , a 1996 UCR alumna (Ph.D.) and staff researchers, have published those findings in "The Longevity ...

When most people hear about an arrest for driving under the influence, they think that the driver had too much to drink. However, the number of fatal accidents caused by drivers who are under the influence of drugs has increased over the past five years. With this number on the rise, officials are more focused on reducing the number of drugged drivers on roadways. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released a study that took a deeper look at the issue. It examined drug tests that were conducted after drivers were killed in accidents. While the report ...

Parents who believe that attention deficit hyperactivity disorder makes their kids more creative got a little more scientific support recently. A new study in the Journal of Personality and Individual Differences found adults with ADHD enjoyed more creative achievement than those who didn't have the disorder. "For the same reason that ADHD might create problems, like distraction, it can also allow an openness to new ideas," says Holly White, assistant professor of cognitive psychology at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida and co-author of the paper. "Not being ...

Most discussions about the dangers of distracted driving focus on the problems posed by electronic devices like cell phones, MP3 players and GPS navigation systems. And while many states have enacted legislation to curb the improper in-car use of electronic devices, some experts suggest that electronic devices are only part of the problem. Indeed, dangerous driving distractions can arise from a variety of sources, including one that many of us would find unlikely: our pets. Although no definitive numbers are available, experts believe that unrestrained pets cause thousands ...

In biology, the key to a healthy life is organization. Cells that properly organize themselves into communities live long and prosper, whereas disorganized cells can become cancerous. A study by researchers with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) of the different types of cells that make up the human breast shows that not only do cells possess an innate ability to self-organize into communities, but these communities of different types of cells can also organize themselves with respect to one another to form and maintain healthy tissue. Understanding ...

The rules of the road are becoming more specific and safety-focused, especially when it comes to regulating or banning the use of certain technological devices while driving. Late last year, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) proposed one such regulation, which aims to outlaw hand-held cell phone use by interstate commercial truck and bus drivers. This type of law is not new; many states have some form of texting while driving ban. But it is a new DOT tactic to put the enforcement spotlight on commercial drivers. The goal is to prevent trucking accidents and ...

PHILADELPHIA - For rodent pups, bonding with mom isn't hard-wired in the womb. It develops over the first few weeks of life, which is achieved by their maturing sense of smell, possibly allowing these mammals a survival advantage by learning to identify mother, siblings, and home. Blending electrophysiological, biochemical, and behavioral experiments, Minghong Ma, PhD, an associate Professor of Neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, led a study published in a recent issue of the Journal of Neuroscience. With students Anderson Lee and Jiwei ...

UPTON, NY - Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory, Stony Brook University, and collaborators have demonstrated the efficacy of a "wearable," portable PET scanner they've developed for rats. The device will give neuroscientists a new tool for simultaneously studying brain function and behavior in fully awake, moving animals. The researchers describe the tool and validation studies in the April 2011 issue of Nature Methods. "Positron emission tomography (PET) is a powerful tool for studying the molecular processes that occur ...

Stena Line, one of the world's largest ferry operators, has announced it is predicting a 100 per cent increase in Indian passengers in 2011 on its twice daily ferry service between Harwich and the Hook of Holland. Some 10,000 Indian tourists travelled the route between Harwich and the Hook of Holland in 2010 and 20,000 are expected to travel it in 2011 as Indians holidaying in Europe are trying to avoid the Air Passenger Duty (APD) costs that would be incurred if they chose to fly back home from the UK. India is in the APD band C which means that the tax has doubled ...

A hidden trove of historical crop yield data from Africa shows that corn – long believed to tolerate hot temperatures – is a likely victim of global warming. Stanford agricultural scientist David Lobell and researchers at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) report in the inaugural issue of Nature Climate Change next week that a clear negative effect of warming on maize – or corn – production was evident in experimental crop trial data conducted in Africa by the organization and its partners from 1999 to 2007. Led by Lobell, the researchers ...

Bupa has revealed that the average Brit is at risk of cutting more than a decade off their life through unhealthy lifestyle habits. This is according to new research from the leading international healthcare group. The Bupa study assessed lifestyle behaviours such as smoking, alcohol intake, diet and exercise as well as other factors, in nearly 5,000 adults across Britain to calculate the nation's average Health Age, which is the impact that lifestyles are having on Briton's life expectancy. The results showed that on average, Brits have a Health Age 12 years older ...

Researchers have provided new clues into the genetics underlying a chronic form of liver disease, called primary biliary cirrhosis, which can lead to transplant surgery for patients. The new study identifies 15 genetic regions that affect a person's risk of developing the disease, more than trebling the number of known genetic regions, which now stands at 22. The study was based on the genomes of 2,500 patients with primary biliary cirrhosis and more than 7,500 apparently healthy people. The results are the first to emerge from the Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium ...