http://www.physorg.com/ en-us Physorg.com internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. (PhysOrg.com) -- Harvard researchers from Brigham and Women`s Hospital (BWH) and colleagues have identified the potential cause of the increased risk for cardiovascular and metabolic disease in shift workers. http://www.physorg.com/news155316624.html Medicine & Health Tue, 03 Mar 2009 15:31:32 EST news155316624 The wide-open spaces of the Flint Hills may no longer provide a secure home on the range for several familiar grassland birds, according to research by a Kansas State University ecologist and her colleagues. http://www.physorg.com/news155305199.html Biology Tue, 03 Mar 2009 12:20:34 EST news155305199 (PhysOrg.com) -- Already Charles Darwin investigated facial expressions of monkeys in order to find out how closely related humans and monkeys really are. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics have now shown that rhesus monkeys and humans employ the same strategies to process faces of conspecifics: both species look first at the eyes of conspecifics, whereas for non-conspecific faces they let their gaze wander over the whole face. http://www.physorg.com/news155234440.html Biology Mon, 02 Mar 2009 16:41:21 EST news155234440 A popular smoking cessation drug dramatically reduced the amount a heavy drinker will consume, a new Yale School of Medicine study has found.Heavy-drinking smokers in a laboratory setting were much less likely to drink after taking the drug varenicline compared to those taking a placebo, according to a study published online in the journal Biological Psychiatry. http://www.physorg.com/news155228075.html Medicine & Health Mon, 02 Mar 2009 14:56:40 EST news155228075 Many native fishes in the Pacific Northwest are threatened or endangered, notably salmonids, and hundreds of millions of dollars are expended annually on researching their populations and on amelioration efforts. http://www.physorg.com/news155187498.html Biology Mon, 02 Mar 2009 03:38:58 EST news155187498 Ever since insects developed a taste for vegetation, plants have faced the same dilemma: use limited resources to out-compete their neighbors for light to grow, or, invest directly in defense against hungry insects. Now, an international team of scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and the Institute of Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agronomía (IFEVA) has discovered how plants weigh the tradeoffs and redirect their energies accordingly. http://www.physorg.com/news155011574.html Biology Sat, 28 Feb 2009 02:46:36 EST news155011574 Teams of scientists from Australia and the United States have used yeast and mammalian cells to discover a connection between genetic and environmental causes of Parkinson's disease. http://www.physorg.com/news154950981.html Medicine & Health Fri, 27 Feb 2009 09:57:03 EST news154950981 In a finding that could help speed the understanding of diseases ranging from cancer to osteoporosis, researchers in Utah are reporting development of a new microscope technique that uses `silver nanoparticle` mirrors to reveal hidden details inside bones, cancer cells, and other biological structures. The method also can help identify structural damage in a wide variety of materials, including carbon-fiber plastics used in airplanes, the researchers say. http://www.physorg.com/news154894368.html Nanotechnology Thu, 26 Feb 2009 18:13:19 EST news154894368 Discovering the different genes that contribute to a complex disease is like searching in the proverbial haystack for an unknown number of needles--some much smaller than others, often blending into the background, and many of them widely separated from each other. But if some needles are linked to each other by fine threads, you might pull out clumps of them together. http://www.physorg.com/news154876287.html Medicine & Health Thu, 26 Feb 2009 13:12:06 EST news154876287 (PhysOrg.com) -- A team of Vanderbilt scientists have invented the world's smallest version of the periscope and are using it to look at cells and other micro-organisms from several sides at once. http://www.physorg.com/news154791239.html Biology Wed, 25 Feb 2009 13:34:49 EST news154791239 It's not just the climate that is struggling with what humans have done to the modern world, our genes are feeling the pressure as well, according to Professor Greg Gibson's recently published book. http://www.physorg.com/news154780255.html Medicine & Health Wed, 25 Feb 2009 10:31:24 EST news154780255 (PhysOrg.com) -- For centuries, people have preserved fruit by mixing it with sugar, making thick jams that last for months without spoiling. Now scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology have discovered* a fundamental property of mixture behavior that might help extend the life of many things including vaccines, food and library books -and save money while doing it. http://www.physorg.com/news154769529.html Chemistry Wed, 25 Feb 2009 07:32:41 EST news154769529 A database detailing the life history of more than 4,000 animal species has been developed by scientists at the University of Liverpool for study in areas such as ageing, evolution and conservation. http://www.physorg.com/news154096858.html Biology Tue, 17 Feb 2009 12:41:13 EST news154096858 (PhysOrg.com) -- The smallest nano-sized silica particles used in biomedicine and engineering likely won't cause unexpected biological responses due to their size, according to work presented today. The result should allay fears that cells and tissues will react unpredictably when exposed to the finest silica nanomaterials in industrial or commercial applications. http://www.physorg.com/news154021822.html Nanotechnology Mon, 16 Feb 2009 15:51:37 EST news154021822 Genetic diseases and genetically mixed populations can help researchers understand human diversity and human origins according to a Penn State physical anthropologist. http://www.physorg.com/news153829575.html Biology Sat, 14 Feb 2009 10:28:26 EST news153829575 Scientists at the Gladstone Institutes of Cardiovascular Disease (GICD) have found that an enzyme associated with the synthesis of fat in the body is also an element in healthy skin and hair. http://www.physorg.com/news153736642.html Chemistry Fri, 13 Feb 2009 08:38:04 EST news153736642 Our eyes are in constant motion. Even when we attempt to stare straight at a stationary target, our eyes jump and jiggle imperceptibly. Although these unconscious flicks, also known as microsaccades, had long been considered mere "motor noise," researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies found that they are instead actively controlled by the same brain region that instructs our eyes to scan the lines in a newspaper or follow a moving object. http://www.physorg.com/news153670434.html Medicine & Health Thu, 12 Feb 2009 14:14:50 EST news153670434 Researchers at Fox Chase Cancer Center have demonstrated that it might be possible to treat genetic diseases, including some forms of cancer, by "rescuing" the misshapen, useless proteins produced by some mutant genes. http://www.physorg.com/news153589365.html Chemistry Wed, 11 Feb 2009 15:44:26 EST news153589365 Scientists at Stanford University School of Medicine have devised a much-needed way to monitor and find treatments for a mysterious and devastating group of metabolic diseases that arise from mutations in cells' fuel-burning mechanism. http://www.physorg.com/news153582021.html Medicine & Health Wed, 11 Feb 2009 13:41:28 EST news153582021 Like kids taking apart a fine Swiss watch, scientists are laboring to understand what makes the biological clock that's inside every living creature tick. http://www.physorg.com/news153300166.html Biology Sun, 08 Feb 2009 07:23:32 EST news153300166 The bacterium behind one of mankind's deadliest scourges, tuberculosis, is helping researchers at the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory move closer to answering the decades-old question of what controls the switching on and off of genes that carry out all of life's functions. http://www.physorg.com/news153210369.html Chemistry Sat, 07 Feb 2009 06:27:11 EST news153210369 (PhysOrg.com) -- Molecular and cellular biologists have made tremendous scientific advances by dissecting apart the functions of individual genes, proteins, and pathways. Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison College of Engineering are looking to expand that understanding by putting the pieces back together, mathematically. http://www.physorg.com/news153128054.html Other Sciences Fri, 06 Feb 2009 07:50:02 EST news153128054 (PhysOrg.com) -- Whether vibrating in place or taking part in protein folding to ensure cells function properly, molecules are never still. Simulating molecular motions provides researchers with information critical to designing vaccines and helps them decipher the bases of certain diseases, such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, that result from molecular motion gone awry. http://www.physorg.com/news152983979.html Chemistry Wed, 04 Feb 2009 15:35:13 EST news152983979 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers have developed a new technique using sensors to constantly monitor the health of bacteria critical to wastewater treatment facilities and have verified a theory that copper is vital to the proper functioning of a key enzyme in the bacteria. http://www.physorg.com/news152973821.html Biology Wed, 04 Feb 2009 12:44:07 EST news152973821 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at the Duke University Medical Center and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) discovered a cause of airway irritation and wheezing after exposure to ozone, a common urban air pollutant. http://www.physorg.com/news152899554.html Chemistry Tue, 03 Feb 2009 16:06:28 EST news152899554 Your mother's wrinkles - or lack there of, may not be the best predictor of how you'll age. In fact, a new study claims just the opposite. The study, involving identical twins, suggests that despite genetic make-up, certain environmental factors can add years to a person's perceived age. Results just published on the web-based version of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), reveal that factors like divorce or the use of antidepressants are the real culprits that can wreak havoc on one's face. http://www.physorg.com/news152884242.html Medicine & Health Tue, 03 Feb 2009 11:51:13 EST news152884242 (PhysOrg.com) -- Most animals, like humans, have separate sexes - they are born, live out their lives and reproduce as one sex or the other. However, some animals live as one sex in part of their lifetime and then switch to the other sex, a phenomenon called sequential hermaphroditism. What remains a puzzle, according to Yale scientists, is why the phenomenon is so rare, since their analysis shows the biological `costs` of changing sexes rarely outweigh the advantages. http://www.physorg.com/news152813667.html Biology Mon, 02 Feb 2009 16:14:49 EST news152813667 The origin of species may be almost as random as a throw of the dice. Iosif Pinelis, a professor of mathematical sciences at Michigan Technological University, has worked out a mathematical solution to a biological puzzle: Why is the typical evolutionary tree so lopsided? http://www.physorg.com/news152546562.html Other Sciences Fri, 30 Jan 2009 14:03:14 EST news152546562 How are neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's initiated, and why is age the major risk factor? A recent study of a protein called MOCA (Modifier of Cell Adhesion), carried out at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, provides new clues to the answers of these fundamental questions. http://www.physorg.com/news152461986.html Medicine & Health Thu, 29 Jan 2009 14:33:29 EST news152461986 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers have created a precise biosensor for detecting blood glucose and potentially many other biological molecules by using hollow structures called single-wall carbon nanotubes anchored to gold-coated "nanocubes." http://www.physorg.com/news151854328.html Nanotechnology Thu, 22 Jan 2009 13:46:15 EST news151854328