Was it humans or climate change that caused the extinctions of the iconic Ice Age mammals (megafauna) such as the woolly rhinoceros and woolly mammoth? For decades, scientists have been debating the reasons behind these enigmatic Ice Age mass extinctions, which caused the loss of a third of the large mammal species in Eurasia and two thirds of the species in North America. Now an extensive, inter-disciplinary research team, involving over 40 academic institutions around the world and led by Professor Eske Willerslev's Centre for GeoGenetics at the Natural History ...

CHESTNUT HILL, MA (11/2/11) – Research carried out at Boston College, in collaboration with scientists at MIT and the University of Oxford, has led to the development of an efficient and highly selective catalyst for ring-closing olefin metathesis, one of the most widely used reactions in chemical synthesis, the team reports in this week's issue of the journal Nature. The team used the new catalyst, part of a large and important class of carbon-carbon double bonds, to synthesize epothilone C and nakadomarin A, both of which are molecules that have been shown to be potent ...

The history of six large herbivores -- the woolly rhinoceros, woolly mammoth, wild horse, reindeer, bison, and musk ox -- is the subject of a study by an international group of scientists investigating how climate fluctuations and human activity affected mammal populations at the end of the last ice age. According to Beth Shapiro, the Shaffer Associate Professor of Biology at Penn State University and a member of the research team, both climate change and humans were responsible for the extinction of some cold-adapted animals and the near extinction of others. The results ...

The world's first commercially available, fully automated system for isolating and growing bacterial colonies is now available from Hudson Robotics, Inc. (www.hudsonrobotics.com), a leading innovator and provider of lab automation solutions. The isolated bacteria, which are excellent vehicles for growing modified DNA, are used in the process of antibody development. Because the new RapidPick ACIS Automated Colony Isolation System is fully automated, it can reduce by up to one-third the time required to produce an antibody to combat new bacterial infections such as MRSA, ...

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Mayo Clinic researchers have discovered why measles, perhaps the most contagious viral disease in the world, spreads so quickly. The virus emerges in the trachea of its host, provoking a cough that fills the air with particles ready to infect the next host. The findings may also help in the fight against ovarian, breast and lung cancers. The findings, published online Nov. 2 in the journal Nature, give researchers insight into why some respiratory viruses spread more quickly and easily than others: They found the measles virus uses a protein (called ...

Companies around the world rely on various marketing strategies to make their brands more appealing to customers, and now, according to a study published in the online journal PLoS ONE, they may have an actual physiological method they can use to test their success. Many marketing strategies rely on self-reporting by consumers, which can be biased and unreliable. To combat these shortcomings, the authors of the recent work, led by Peter Walla of University of Newcastle in Australia, showed that the brains' emotional and motivational reaction accurately reflect whether ...

Honey bee populations have been mysteriously falling for at least five years in the United States, but the cause of so-called colony collapse disorder (CCD) is still largely unknown. In a report published Nov. 2 in the online journal PLoS ONE, researchers report that a widely used in-hive medication may make bees more susceptible to toxicity of commonly used pesticides, and that this interaction may be at least partially responsible for the continuing honey bee population loss. The researchers, led by David Hawthorne of University of Maryland, pre-treated healthy honey ...

Lions' and tigers' fearsome roars are due to their unusual vocal cords, according to a study published in the Nov. 2 issue of the online journal PLoS ONE. The authors report that the big cats' vocal cards have an odd square shape and can withstand strong stretching and shearing. That shape "makes it easier for the tissue to respond to the passing airflow," allowing louder roars at lower lung pressure, says University of Utah researcher Tobias Riede, one of the researchers involved in the project. These findings contradict a theory that lions roar deeply because the vocal ...

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- Researchers at Mayo Clinic (http://www.mayoclinic.org) have shown that eliminating cells that accumulate with age could prevent or delay the onset of age-related disorders and disabilities. The study, performed in mouse models, provides the first evidence that these "deadbeat" cells could contribute to aging and suggests a way to help people stay healthier as they age. The findings appear in the journal Nature,(http://www.nature.com/nature/index.html) along with an independent commentary on the discovery. "By attacking these cells and what they produce, ...

MADISON – Cutting out short auto trips and replacing them with mass transit and active transport would yield major health benefits, according to a study just published in the scientific journal Environmental Health Perspectives. The biggest health benefit was due to replacing half of the short trips with bicycle trips during the warmest six months of the year, saving about $3.8 billion per year from avoided mortality and reduced health care costs for conditions like obesity and heart disease. The report calculated that these measures would save an estimated $7 billion, ...

Laurence Fishburne will be the narrator of an upcoming PBS documentary about black workers in the post-slavery South. The film, titled "Slavery by Another Name," is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book by Douglas A. Blackmon. Blackmon's composition is a powerful account of how America surreptitiously maintained slavery under the guise of peonage and forced labor from 1863 to the 1960s. The narrative brings to light one of the darkest and most shameful moments in American history, exposing the awful truth about the interminable abuse of power and continued ...

A piece of jawbone excavated from a prehistoric cave in England is the earliest evidence for modern humans in Europe, according to an international team of scientists. The bone first was believed to be about 35,000 years old, but the new research study shows it to be significantly older -- between 44,000 and 41,000 years old, according to the findings that will be published in the journal Nature. The new dating of the bone is expected to help scientists pin down how quickly the modern humans spread across Europe during the last Ice Age. It also helps confirm the much-debated ...

The workshops, entitled 'Act your Age! Challenging Stereotypes', form part of the Economic and Social Research Council's (ESRC) Festival of Social Science 2011 and are organised by the University of Sheffield's New Dynamics of Ageing (NDA) research programme. Sarah Howson and Charlotte Jones, who are co-ordinating the workshops, say: "Stereotyping in the media can lead to a negative understanding of older people. The workshop will use a variety of hands-on activities to help the children to consider their perceptions of older people. They will be asked to apply these ...

CLEVELAND -- Results of the pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial published in the Nov. 3, 2011 (embargoed 5 pm ET, Nov. 2, '11) New England Journal of Medicine, find that the oral medication ivacaftor (VX-770) provides major, sustained improvement in lung function, growth and other signs and symptoms for cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. The multi-site study marks the first time a drug has been shown to work on the disease process rather than on the symptoms. CF, which has no cure, is the most common lethal genetic disease in Caucasians. "Ivacaftor represents a significant advancement ...

Around 4,000 deaths could be prevented every year if the UK population adopted the average diet eaten in England, concludes research published in BMJ Open. Death rates for cardiovascular disease and cancer are higher in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland than they are in England, and it is well known that these diseases are associated with a poor diet that is high in saturated fats and salt and low in fibre, fruits and vegetables. The researchers therefore looked at mortality data for coronary heart disease, stroke, and 10 cancers associated with diet, including ...

Disco Science is better than no music at all at helping to deliver the required number of chest compressions (CPR) to save a heart attack victim's life before s/he gets to hospital, reveals research published online in Emergency Medicine Journal. But Disco Science, which featured in the soundtrack to Guy Ritchie's film Snatch in 2000, still doesn't improve the depth of compression, leading the authors to suggest that it's time to give up on trying to find the best musical track to aid the procedure. The annual UK incidence of heart attacks occurring outside hospital ...

(Toronto – Nov. 3, 2011) – Men with locally advanced or high-risk prostate cancer who receive combined radiation and hormone therapy live longer and are less likely to die from their disease, shows clinical research led by radiation oncologists at the Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) Cancer Program, University Health Network. The findings are published online today in The Lancet (doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(11)61095-7). Principal investigator Padraig Warde, deputy head, PMH radiation medicine program, says: "The study shows combining radiation and hormone therapy improves ...

The timing, process and archeology of the peopling of Europe by early modern humans have been actively debated for more than a century. Reassessment of the anatomy and dating of a fragmentary upper jaw with three teeth from Kent's Cavern in southern England has shed new light on these issues. Originally found in 1927, Kent's Cavern and its human fossil have been reassessed by an international team, including Erik Trinkaus, PhD, professor of anthropology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, and the results published in Nature. The Kent's Cavern human ...

Energy regulator, Ofgem, recently announced that the average duel gas and electricity bill is now GBP1,345 a year, and experts acknowledge that this figure can only go up. In addition, the trend of new-build properties coming with a gas fire as standard has been dealt a blow thanks to recent government regulations that demand increased efficiency. Rather than sit and wait while the price of domestic oil, gas and electricity keep rising, the benefits of renewable energy sources have been recognised by many Irish consumers, with retailers such as Dalzells of Markethill ...

STANFORD, Calif. -- When given for hours as a continuous dose, the heart medication nitroglycerin backfires -- increasing the severity of subsequent heart attacks, according to a study of the compound in rats by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. "Basically it's a cautionary tale," said professor of chemical and systems biology Daria Mochly-Rosen, PhD, senior author of the study that will be published Nov. 2 in Science Translational Medicine. "Here is a practice in medicine used for over 100 years. Nitroglycerin is so old that a proper clinical ...

A recent increase in the intensity of tropical cyclones in the Arabian Sea may be a side effect of increasing air pollution over the Indian sub-continent, a new multi-institutional study has found. Traditionally, prevailing wind-shear patterns prevent cyclones in the Arabian Sea from becoming major storms. A paper appearing in the Nov. 3 issue of the journal Nature, however, suggests the weakening of the winds aloft has enabled the formation of stronger cyclones in recent years – including storms in 2007 and 2010 that were the first recorded storms ever to enter the Gulf ...

Pollution is making Arabian Sea cyclones more intense, according to a study in this week's issue of the journal Nature. Traditionally, prevailing wind shear patterns prohibit cyclones in the Arabian Sea from becoming major storms. The Nature paper suggests that weakening winds have enabled the formation of stronger cyclones in recent years -- including storms in 2007 and 2010 that were the first recorded storms to enter the Gulf of Oman. Researchers note that weakening wind patterns during the last 30 years correspond with a buildup of aerosols in the atmosphere over ...

Josh Cote a successful business owner and entrepreneur will promote Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) to encourage many budding entrepreneurs to put plans in motion to start businesses and assist with developing work opportunities for others. Kauffman Foundation and Enterprise UK founded Global Entrepreneurship week in 2008 and signed Youth Business International to become the national host for 2011. Since beginning in 2008, Global Entrepreneurship Week has spread to 115 countries worldwide. "The growth of GEW has been amazing. To think it started in 2004 and ...

An international research team led by Dr. Cindy Leissinger of Tulane University School of Medicine, along with Dr. Alessandro Gringeri from the University of Milan, has found that a drug commonly used to treat bleeding events in people with a type of severe hemophilia can also be used to prevent such events from happening in the first place. The study, the first to confirm the efficacy and safety of the drug FEIBA™ in bleed prevention is published in the Nov. 3, 2011 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. The study examined the ability of FEIBA to prevent bleeds ...

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- The poor safety profile of the smoking-cessation drug varenicline (Chantix™) makes it unsuitable for first-line use, according to a study published in the Nov. 2 edition of the journal PLoS One, an online publication of the Public Library of Science. Varenicline, which already carries a "black box warning" from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), showed a substantially increased risk of reported depression or suicidal behavior compared to other smoking-cessation treatments, according to researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, ...