Could Generating Energy from Waste Be the Answer?
Scientists at Teesside University are helping to find answers to one of the most difficult problems facing the world today — generating energy without accelerating climate change or harming food production.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100125150645.htm
New Class of Brain-Protecting Drugs Emerging
7,8-dihydroxyflavone is a member of the flavonoid family of chemicals, which are abundant in fruits and vegetables. The compound’s selective effects suggest that it could be the founder of a new class of brain-protecting drugs.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100125173459.htm
How Life Without Sex Works
Life without sex may be boring, and it’s also a path to a dead-end as a species. Asexual organisms are extremely rare. But bdelloid rotifers have been reproducing without sex for millions of years. And now, researchers say they can explain how the tiny creatures have pulled it off for so long.
http://www.livescience.com/animals/etc/100130-how-life-without-sex-works.html
Geoengineering Schemes: Yay! Boo!
Interest in geoengineering — manipulating the Earth’s climate to counteract the effects of global warming — is on the rise. Bill Gates, it was revealed this week, has put at least $4.5 billion into researching geoengineering ideas.
http://www.livescience.com/environment/etc/100130-geoengineering-schemes-yay-boo.html
Water Vapor a ‘Wild Card’ in Climate
A 10 percent drop in water vapor ten miles above Earth’s surface has had a big impact on global warming, a new study finds. The findings might help explain why global surface temperatures have not risen as fast in the last ten years as they did in the 1980s and 1990s.
http://www.livescience.com/environment/etc/100130-water-vapor.html
Physical Activity Associated With Healthier Aging: Links Between Exercise and Cognitive Function, Bone Density and Overall Health
Physical activity appears to be associated with a reduced risk or slower progression of several age-related conditions as well as improvements in overall health in older age [...] Exercise has previously been linked to beneficial effects on arthritis, falls and fractures, heart disease, lung disease, cancer, diabetes and obesity
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100125172946.htm
Magnesium May Boost Brainpower
Mice given extra doses of a new magnesium compound had better working memory, long-term memory and greater learning ability. Before you go popping heavy doses of magnesium, however, know that much more testing is needed. Though rodent brains work similarly to ours, animal studies do not always predict what will happen in humans. The element was shown brain-boosting abilities in earlier studies using cultured brain cells. But the new compound — magnesium-L-threonate (MgT) — was tested in animals and found to be effective.
http://www.livescience.com/health/magnesium-brain-boost.html
Black Hole Hunters Set New Distance Record
Astronomers using ESO’s Very Large Telescope have detected, in another galaxy, a stellar-mass black hole much farther away than any other previously known. With a mass above fifteen times that of the Sun, this is also the second most massive stellar-mass black hole ever found. It is entwined with a star that will soon become a black hole itself.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100127095920.htm
Fight, Fight, Fight: The History of Human Aggression
The use of weapons may date back well before the rise of humanity, given evidence that even our closest living relatives, the chimpanzees, can use spears to hunt other primates. To see how fighting evolved from hand-to-hand combat to world war, here are 10 major innovations that revolutionized combat.
http://www.livescience.com/history/human-aggression-history-100130-1.html
How Much Sleep Do I Need?
Scientists can’t say exactly how much sleep each person needs, but there are some guidelines. And you should know that serious lack of sleep — less than six or seven hours a night — has been associated with increased risks of high blood pressure, hypertension, obesity, diabetes and cancer.
http://www.livescience.com/mysteries/sleep-hours-need-100130.html
Losing Sleep, Losing Brain?
Chronic and severely stressful situations, like those connected to depression and posttraumatic stress disorder, have been associated with smaller volumes in “stress sensitive” brain regions, such as the cingulate region of the cerebral cortex and the hippocampus, a brain region involved in memory formation. A new study, published by Elsevier in Biological Psychiatry, suggests that chronic insomnia may be another condition associated with reduced cortical volume.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100127095914.htm